





llv'rC ■ ■ 




3: *' ' f A 



.m 



m 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




m 



m 



iv^^i* 



[ki 








<> * ° " ° ' .^^ c 

\0 O^ ' . . s 
















4 o 

c ° " " -» o a!^ . ^ " >, 




' ^0' 

















o ^ 



'•^^^^• 






.-^^ . 






.V 




v:"^ 







.^ 







9> ^ 




^oV" 






A"^: 





























•\ o 







.H o^ 




.0 







With 

Grant at Fort Donelson, 

Shiloh and Vicksburg 

And an Appreciation of General U. S. Grant 



By 

Wilbur F. Crummer 

of the 45th Regt., 111. Vols. 



mm 



With Illustrations 



Published 1915 

By E. C. CRUMMER & CO. 

Oak Park. lU. 






Copyright 1915 
By W. F. CRUMMER 



JUL 26 1915 

©CI.A406856 



t.r, 



Table of Contents 



Pages 
Fort Henry - - - - 11-23 

Fort Donelson - - - - 25-47 

Shiloh 49-90 

Vicksburg - _ - - 91-171 

Appreciation of General U. S. Grant - 173-190 



Illustrations 



■*«—"*• 



Pages 

1. General Grant examining a prisoner's haversack 

at Fort Donelson ------ 31 ^^ 

2. Charge of the 8th Missouri and 11th Indiana 

Regiments, led by General Lew Wallace, 

at Fort Donelson - - - - - - 44>^ 

3. The fight in the peach orchard at Shiloh - - - 66 fX 

4. The 23rd Indiana and 45th Illinois Regiments 

charging Fort Hill after the explosion of 
the mines June 25th, 1863, at the siege of 
Vicksburg 138 . 

5. General U. S. Grant 173 / 



FOREWORD 

In this year of 1915, when the soxinds of bat- 
tle and strife come wafted to us across the sea 
from Europe, the younger generation are ask- 
ing questions of the Veterans of the Civil War 
about their experiences in battle. 

Formerly I lived in Galena, 111., and having 
been personally acquainted with, and a neigh- 
bor of General U. S. Grant, and one of the **Boys 
in Blue'* who followed him in the battles of 
Fort Donelson, Shiloh and Vicksburg, I deem 
it my privilege to add my mite to the history 
that clusters round the greatest military genius 
of modern times. 

To please many friends who have heard my 
lectures on the Civil War, and at the request 
of my children, the following pages have been 
written, from data made at the time and since, 
and from a vivid memory of the stirring days 
of 1862 and 1863. 

Wilbur F. Crummer. 

Oak Park, 111., June 14, 1915. 



FORT HENRY 

CHAPTER I. 

' ' Say, Will, did you see that one as it crossed 
the line just nowT' 

**No, Jim; how can a feller see anything this 
dark night T' 

** Well, he ran right by me, and I think he was 
as big as our dog. Rover, at home. Isn't it a 
beastly shame that orders are so strict about 
shooting while on guard! I'd like to have shot 
that fellow for sure." 

** Never mind, Jim; you'll have enough of 
shooting before this war is over, I'm thinking, 
for I feel it in my bones that Gen. Grant is get- 
ting ready to start something in the way of 
fighting, for I've seen him two or three times, 
and he looks to me as though he was a fighter." 

**Well, old scout, anything but this kind of 
soldiering. ' ' 

The conversation was between two young 
11 



12 FOBT HENRY 

soldier boys of Company A, 45th Illinois Vol- 
unteers, while on guard duty around camp in 
the month of January, 1862, at Cairo, Illinois, 
on one of the darkest and rainiest nights they 
ever saw. The **It'' was a calf that in cross- 
ing the path had startled Jim so much he was 
tempted to shoot it. As the two neighbor boys, 
just from the farm in Northern Illinois, trudged 
back and forth on their posts through the deep- 
est and blackest mud they had ever seen, they 
stopped at the end of their *^beat'' as they met, 
and talked for a few moments of home and the 
loved ones left behind; of camp and its arduous 
duties, of drilling and guard duty, and then of 
what would be the next move. The American 
Volunteers always kept up a *Hhink" or two in 
their heads as to what would and should be 
done in fighting the battles for the Union. 

**Will, I hope we won't have to stay here 
long.'' 

* * You bet we won 't, ' ' responds Will. * * Grant 



FORT HENRY 13 

has got something up his sleeve and we'll be 
moving before long, take my word for it." 

Will was right. In a few days a large num- 
ber of steamboats gathered at the wharf, and 
were being loaded with ammunition, commis- 
sary stores and all the needed accessories of an 
army, and then the day came to break camp and 
the boys marched on the boats, wondering which 
way the boats would head out in the river. 

On February 4th, 1862, the boats are loaded 
to the guards and the order is given, and with 
Gen. Grant leading the way, the boats steam 
out into the Ohio and start upstream. 

Will and Jim were packed on the upper deck 
of the steamer *^City of Memphis" like a box 
of sardines with their comrades. While the 
day lasted the boys feasted their eyes on the 
scenery from either side and enjoyed the first 
steamboat ride of their lives. 

At night they spread their blankets on the 
deck and laid down to dream of home, but be- 



14 FOET HENRY 

fore going to sleep, they had a ^Halk-fest," as 
they called it, Jim thinking they must be going 
to Cincinnati. But Will thought different, and 
said: *^I don't know where we'll land, but I'll 
bet a hard tack it will be down south somewhere 
among the secesh." 

The next morning when they awoke they 
found themselves, not on the Ohio, but on the 
Tennessee river headed down South. **What 
did I tell you last night, Jim, that we were go- 
ing to land somewhere in Dixie. ' ' 

* * Say, Will, are you in close touch with Grant 
that you know what he 's going to do T ' 

**No, but what's a feller got a *bean' on top 
of his body, if it isn't to think a little and rea- 
son things out somewhat?" 

During the day our boat tied up at a landing 

for the purpose of loading up with cord wood 
for fuel. Permission was given to the boys to 
go ashore and stretch their legs. There was a 
large warehouse there, stored with merchandise. 



FORT HENRY 15 

The owner at once secured a guard to be placed 
over some barrels of whiskey. lii every com- 
pany there were men who liked strong drinks, 
and in prowling around they spied these bar- 
rels of whiskey, and ways and means were at 
once started to get some of the fiery stuff. One 
of the soldiers was directed to go near one of 
the barrels and while talking with the guard to 
let his gun drop on the floor, the man under- 
neath would note where the gun struck the floor 
by the dust loosened up, and the man who had 
let his gun drop came down and directed just 
where the end of the barrel of whiskey would 
be. An auger was procured and a hole was 
bored through the floor into the barrel of whis- 
key. The boys stood ready with their canteens 
and caught the precious stuff (I) as it came 
down. Not long after quite a number of the 
soldiers were making merry and showing cer- 
tain signs of being under the influence of liquor. 
The officers were puzzled as to how the men se- 



16 FORT HEKRY 

cured the liquor and rushed to the guard, ac- 
cusing him of his failure to properly guard his 
charge. He denied strenuously that he had per- 
mitted any one to touch the barrels. One of the 
officers leaned against one of the barrels and 
being empty it toppled over, and the cat was 
out of the bag. The guard was exonerated, but 
some of the soldiers who had taken too much 
of the stuff for their good were arrested and 
punished. The plotters, however, were not dis- 
covered. It is a strange fact that those who 
liked the fiery liquid, could smell out where it 
was located and use the most curious ways to 
obtain it. 

On February 6, 1862, in the afternoon, we 
landed on the eastern bank of the river, and 
the soldiers were located in camps near by. 
This being our first camp in Dixie, it was called 
'Tamp Halleck." How it did rain that night 
and blow, leveling many of our tents. 

Many of the boys made light of their mis- 



FORT HENRY 17 

haps. We pitched our tents near a farm house, 
and the planter, not knowing our reputation at 
home for honesty and uprightness, went to our 
Colonel and asked that a guard be placed around 
the farmhouse to protect him and his property. 
The Colonel granted the request, for at this 
stage of war, orders were very strict about for- 
aging and taking anything from the planters. 
It fell to the writer 's lot to stand guard for two 
hours that night, during that fearful storm, over 
some pigs. How digusted he was: the idea of 
enlisting to fight for **01d Glory'' and save the 
Union, and the first thing he had to do was to 
guard a lot of dirty pigs that were not half 
as good as those in his father's farm yard, but 
*^ orders is orders," as Jim said, and 'tis a sol- 
dier's duty to obey. Strict orders were issued 
that no trespassing would be permitted and a 
soldier caught stealing would be severely pun- 
ished. My two hours of guard duty over those 
pigs was up at last and I turned them over 



18 FOKT HENRY 

to another sentinel. During the night a great 
squawking was heard, and in the early morning 
the owner of the farm complained to our Colonel 
that the soldiers had stolen his geese. The 
Colonel ordered an officer to search each tent 
to find the stolen geese and the thieves. When 
the officer came to our tent, he commenced 
to turn over our blankets and knapsacks. 
There was one sleepy fellow lying down with 
his head on his knapsack for a pillow, appar- 
ently sound asleep ; the officer touched him, but 
he slept on and one of the boys said: ** Don't 
wake that fellow up, he's been on guard duty 
all night." 

**A11 right," said the kind-hearted officer and 
passed out of the tent. How relieved we were 
when he had gone away, for that sleepy fel- 
low had his head on his knapsack which held 
the goose. Of course we had goose for break- 
fast, and it tasted mighty good if it was a 
** Dixie" goose. Don't ask me who stole it, for 



FORT HENRY 19 

I'll never tell, and my comrades will not tell. 

The next morning we took up our line of 
march toward Fort Henry. The rain had fallen 
the night before, making the roads very muddy. 
Many times we had to stop, stack arms, throw 
off knapsacks and put our shoulders to the 
wheels of the artillery and help them out of the 
mud holes. We came to several streams not 
bridged, but we were enthusiastic in our seek- 
ing the enemy and spoiling for a fight. Taking 
no time to build temporary bridges, we 
plunged into the water waist deep and pushed 
ahead. This made me think of what I had read 
of our Kevolutionary fathers ** wading swollen 
streams and toiling through almost impassible 
barriers to fight for their liberty and rights.'' 

We hadn't come to the fighting yet, but we 
hoped to do so soon; then we could class our- 
selves with our forefathers. Now, I smile over 
the thought I had then when a lad of 18 years, 
and though 3^ou may smile, the thought comes 



20 FORT HENRY 

that if we youngsters had not had the spirit of 
emulating the deeds of our forefathers, where 
would this grand nation be today? 

In the distance the gunboats were hammer- 
ing away at Fort Henry, and as the sound of 
the booming cannon came to our ears we wished 
we were there to attack from the land side. 
Commodore A. H. Foote, with ^ve gunboats, 
had attacked the fort and the fight was a most 
thrilling picture; the whizzing of fragments of 
bursting shells; the deafening roar of the guns 
in the fort; the black sides of ^yq gunboats 
belching fire at every port hole was something 
to be remembered a lifetime. The fire from the 
gunboats dismounted seven big guns and 
brought down the flagstaff, and, together with 
the bursting of a rifled gun in the fort, created 
a panic in the enemy's ranks. A shot from the 
enemy passed through the boiler of the Essex 
and many were scalded. When the Union tars 
were told that the enemy had surrendered, a 



FORT HENRY 21 

sailor named Breas, who was badly wounded, 
sprang to his feet saying, ^* Surrender! I must 
see that with my own eyes before I die,'' and 
then, climbing two short flights of stairs to the 
deck, he saw a white flag flying over Fort 
Henry, and shouted, ' * Glory to God ! ' ' sank ex- 
hausted on the deck and died that night. 

We were tramping along in the mud when 
a messenger passed along the line announcing 
the capture of the fort by the gunboats. Some 
of us cheered, but others were silent and really 
felt sore at the sailors for their taking of the fort 
before we had a chance to help them. How 
foolish we were then. We had enough of fight- 
ing ere the war was over, and after the first bat- 
tle we never begrudged other forces the honor of 
gaining a victory without our help. Most of 
the enemy had ^^ skedaddled'' to Fort Donel- 
son. Commodore Foote took a small number of 
prisoners, together with Commander General 
Tighlman. It was after dark when we reached 



22 FORT HENRY 

the outer earthworks, inside of which we 
camped. Here we spent our second night in 
Dixie, without any shelter save the blue sky 
above us. We built large fires and managed 
to keep fairly comfortable, although it was 
pretty cold. Will was up very early the next 
morning, and, having an intense desire to see 
the inside of the fort, took * ' French leave ' ' and 
started in that direction. (A French leave 
is nothing more than a "pass" taken on 
your own responsibility.) He found that the 
fort was situated on a very low piece of land; 
indeed, it was a swamp, nearly all surrounded 
by water. The works were well constructed, 
but whoever selected this as a suitable site for 
a fort was. Will thought, either insane or 
knew nothing of modern warfare. Ignorant as 
Will was of military ways, he said he would 
not have picked on this place for a fort. Here 
Will had his first view of the dead and man- 
gled upon the battle field. One of the largest 



FORT HENRY 23 

of the cannon had burst while the cannonading 
was in progress and this carried destruction to 
all those around the gun, tearing them all to 
pieces. Will said afterwards: **I shall to my 
dying day carry that picture in my memory/' 
Now, for the first time, did Will realize the hor- 
rors of war. In his eagernes to secure relics 
he knocked off a large piece of the bursted 
cannon and with other relics he loaded him- 
self down, but after carrying them for a 
while he threw them away, thinking it would 
be a long time ere he returned home, as it surely 
proved to be. After viewing the destruction on 
every hand until he was satisfied. Will returned 
to camp in time to escape being noticed by his 
officer. 



FORT DONELSON 

CHAPTER II. 

With the fall of Fort Henry, we started to- 
ward Fort Donelson. The roads were muddy 
and the country hilly, making the marching 
hard work. About 3 o'clock p. m. of February 
12, 1862, the distant booming of cannon told 
us all too plainly that we were near the enemy, 
and we were urged to greater speed. When 
within two miles of the fort a group of officers 
passed us^ among them Gen. Grant, Gen. W. H. 
L. Wallace, Col. Oglesby and others. We were 
ordered to unsling knapsacks and leave them 
in company piles, with a guard over them, and 
then away we went over hills, valleys and ra- 
vines, through the woods and dense thickets. 
After having marched about a mile and a half 
we were halted, darkness having arrived. The 
night was very chilly and cold. Our boys had 
left their knapsacks two miles to the rear and 
were without blankets. Cold, hungry and dis- 

25 



26 FORT DONELSON 

appointed, we shivered during that long, dreary- 
night, and began to realize what an earnest, 
cruel thing a soldier's life was. But it was our 
first experience, and we l^new nothing about 
making ourselves comfortable. We learned 
better after a while and always carried our 
blankets with us, whether in battle or not. It 
is the best plan to always have a blanket with 
you. During the night it rained and turned 
very cold. We were forbidden to leave the 
lines, hence could not go back for our blankets. 
Will gathered up a pile of leaves and crept into 
them, but this did not keep him warm, and be- 
coming cold he got up and paced back and 
forth to try to keep warm. 

At the first streak of day — February 13, 
1862 — the enemy bade us good morning by send- 
ing us a shell that burst close to our lines, but 
doing little damage. The boys were mad and, 
gathering their muskets, said: *^ Let's show 
them that we are not to be shot at without re- 



FORT DONELSON 27 

turning the compliment,'* but our officers were 
not ready to give us a chance. The battle was 
on, however, at other points of the line, and at 
last we were to have our hearts' desires, name- 
ly, of having a shot at the enemy. We were 
moved shortly to the right and formed in line 
with our brigade. 

About noon our General, W. H. L. Wallace, 
sent the 48th Illinois to attack what looked like 
a small redoubt to the left and front of us. This 
regiment gallantly attacked and fought desper- 
ately for some time, but losing their Colonel, 
they fell back, and then Gen. Wallace ordered 
the 45th Illinois to go to their aid. Now the 
time had come for us to show what stuff we 
were made of; now had come the time to do 
what we had promised our loved ones at home — 
to fight gallantly for the dear old flag. The or- 
ders of our Colonel were: 

^^ Attention, battalion ! Fix bayonets ; shoulder 
arms; right shoulder shift, arms. Forward, 



28 FORT DONELSON 

march!'' and all moved toward the enemy's 
works over very rough ground. The redoubt 
of the enemy was on a hill, the ground sloping 
down toward us, while the trees and brush had 
been cut down to retard our progress. Pres- 
ently the bullets began to sing about our heads : 
zip, ping, ping, and as we climbed the hill we 
were met by a murderous fire of musketry; the 
men were falling in bunches and the enemy 
poured into us grape and canister from their 
cannons. 

When we got close enough the order to 
fire was given, and we boys sent our first lead 
into the enemy who showed themselves on top 
of the breastwork. The firing on both sides 
was brisk, but our Colonel would not let the 
men advance any farther. He knew we could 
not climb over the trench in front of the 
breastworks and scale the works. We fought 
an hour at great disadvantage, when the order 
was given to slowly retire. We had smelt pow- 



FORT DONELSON 29 

der for the first time and had heard the whiz 
of the minie-ball, many of our brave comrades 
making the greatest sacrifice a man can make 
for his country. They had given their lives for 
the flag. 

The gunboats on the river side of the fort 
had been doing valiant work, but had suffered 
badly at the hands of the enemy. The flagship 
St. Louis, had her steering wheel shattered, the 
pilot was killed, and Admiral Foote was 
wounded. The flagstaff was shot away and 
Captain J. V. Johnston, fastening the flag to 
his arm, walked the deck and gave the signals. 

For the interest of my young readers, I must 
tell you about Captain Johnston's little boy, 
Master James Vincent Johnston, aged about 8 
years at the time. Captain Johnston's wife and 
little boy were visiting him on the gunboat 
when the enemy opened fire from an unseen 
battery on the shore. The Captain had tied the 
boy by his mother's side in one of the cabins, 



30 FORT DONELSON 

but he succeeded in untying himself and ran 
off among the gunners, where he seemed to take 
great delight during the excitement. Presently 
the Captain came along and met the little fellow 
carrying a pouch of powder. His father was 
surprised, and asked him where he got his load. 
The child answered: 

^^Why, Tommy had his head shotted otf over 
there an' I'm carrying the powder," and he ran 
to the gun carrying his load. 

The Captain let him have his way and little 
Jimmy was the hero of the battle, and the sail- 
ors called him ** Admiral Jimmie." 

After the unsuccessful attack on the fort we 
again took our places in the line with our bri- 
gade. During the night the cold was intense 
and the men suffered much; some perished, 
icicles hanging from the caps of the sentinels. 
Our grub at this time was very scarce. We 
learned better later on in the war to always 




(Jeneral Grant examininjt a prisoner' 
at Fort Donelson 



haversack 



FORT DONELSON 31 

carry a good supply of hard tack in our haver- 
sacks for just such emergencies. 

Towards evening some prisoners were cap- 
tured and were taken to General Grant, who 
examined their haversacks and found them well 
filled with rations. The General reasoned from 
this fact, that the enemy were preparing to 
make their escape, which they did try to do the 
next day. 

Soon after dark some of us were detailed to 
dig trenches and assist in erecting breastworks 
for the artillery. The Seventh Corporal was de- 
tailed to take charge of the squad, but it being 
so bitter cold he feigned sickness and turned the 
squad over to Will. He took his place and 
did the best he could, getting no sleep at all 
during the night. The next morning Jim asked 
Will how he liked his job. ^'Oh,'^ said Will, 
**the job was all right, but I'll tell you, Jim, I 
think less of that Seventh Corporal than I did 
before, because of that little tricli of his.'' 



32 FORT DONELSON 

During the night the Confederate Generals 
held a council of war and decided to mass their 
troops on our right the next morning, and cut 
their way out and escape. 

Just as the first faint streaks of light came 
over the hills, so also came the compliments 
from the enemy, in the shape of iron shells from 
their cannons. McAllister's battery returned 
the salutation in earnest and the battle was on 
again. Saturday, February 15, 1862, the enemy 
massed 10,000 troops opposite General McCler- 
nand's division, on our right, and advanced 
upon our line, the pickets being fired upon be- 
fore dawn. 

The order, "Fall in," was given and in a few 
minutes the woods rang with rattle of musketry 
and the roar of cannon. The enemy were de- 
termined to turn our right flank and escape. 
The battle raged fiercely for an hour and a half, 
and then came a lull. Colonel Forrest with his 
dashing cavalry made a charge on our lines at 



FORT DOKELSON 33 

one point and captured one of our batteries. 
The fightihg at other points all along the line 
that stretched for over three miles was heavy. 
About 10 o^clock our troops upon the extreme 
right ran out of ammunition, and Gen. Ogles- 
by's brigade had to fall back. 

General Lew Wallace now came up with 
fresh troops, their cartridge boxes full, and 
those that had fallen back having now received 
plenty of cartridges reformed their lines and 
again took part in the fight to drive the enemy 
back into their breastworks. 

On the left of our lines a charge on the 
works had been ordered by Gen. Grant, and 
Gen. C. F. Smith, leading the boys in blue, 
placed his hat on his swordpoint and holding 
it aloft, cried out: **This way, boys; come on,*' 
and the boys followed their courageous leader 
amidst a terrible hail of minie-balls and cannon 
shot. The 2nd, 7th, 12th and 14th Iowa and 
the 25th Indiana Regiments engaged in this 



34 FORT DONELSON 

charge, planting their colors on the outer works, 
the enemy falling back to an inner breastwork. 
There was more or less fighting all day, but we 
finally drove the enemy back into their fort and 
had them cooped up and nearly surrounded. 

During the battle in front of our lines, one 
of our company was wounded and went a few 
rods to the rear and sat down behind a tree. 
The Lieutenant Colonel seeing him there and 
thinking he was skulking went at him fiercely, 
saying: ^^Gill, get back into line.'' Now, Gill 
was an odd genius, slow of speech and having 
a peculiar drawl in his manner of speaking, re- 
plied: ''I guess not. Colonel; I'm wounded." 

*^ Where are you wounded?" 

*'In the breast. Colonel." 

The Colonel still having his doubts, asked 
where the ball hit him. Gill, raising his finger 
and covering the track of the bullet, said: ^*It 
went skewaggling this a way. ' ' 

Sure enough, a minie-ball had torn a hole 



FORT DONELSON 35 

clear across his breast, making an ugly look- 
ing flesh wound. Gill remained behind the tree 
until told to go and see the surgeon. 

It is a fact that many new words were 
coined during the Civil War, some of them com- 
ing into general use and finding place in the 
dictionaries. 

So far I have not seen Gill's new word in the 
dictionaries, but surely it was a most apt de- 
scription of how he was wounded. 

Another member of our company was taking 
his coffee from the fire in the early morning 
when a stray, spent bullet from the enemy 
struck him in the head and knocked him down. 
He was taken back a short distance and the 
surgeon extracted a bullet flattened out and 
lying just under the scalp. He recovered, but 
the boys called him **01d bullet-proof skull,'' 
or ^ ^ Old hard head, ' ' after that. - 



CHAPTER III. 

That night, as the boys lay in line of battle, 
they discussed the doings of the day. 

**Say, Will, how did you feel to be in battle 
today r' 

**Well, Jim, the greatest strain was waiting 
in line of battle, either for an advance or to re- 
ceive the enemy's charge when I could do 
nothing, and hearing the booming of cannon 
and rattle of musketry in other parts of the bat- 
tle field, I felt as though my heart was in my 
mouth, and there came a desire to run for a 
place of safety; but after we got into action, 
amid the smoke, dirt, excitement and noise, I 
forgot where my heart was and had no desire 
to run ; fear had been displaced by a savage in- 
stinct to inflict injury on the enemy." 

Many have tried to explain the feeling while 
on the battlefield, and it is probable that a bat- 
tle affects men in different ways. However, we 

37 



38 FOBT DONELSON 

think Will's description of the feeling is about 
right. 

Late Saturday night we bivouacked near the 
firing line without fire and very little to eat. 
The ground was covered with snow and ice and 
the weather very cold. 

Captain Johnson, of Company F, had his feet 
frozen so badly he never could wear his boots 
again, but, instead, wore a pair of large army 
brogans. 

Fatigue parties were detailed to search for 
and bring in the wounded; this labor extending 
throughout the night, the surgeons never rested 
and there was no distinction between the blue 
and the gray. 

As the Union army on this dreary Saturday 
night rested in bivouac close in front of the 
enemy's works, the moans of the Wounded could 
be heard, and here and there flickering lights 
moved through the woods on errands of mercy. 

Mother Bickerdike, a nurse with the Union 



FOKT DONELSON 39 

army, was out on the battle field with her lan- 
tern, groping among the dead, stooping down 
and turning their cold faces towards her, she 
scrutinized them earnestly, uneasy lest some 
might be wounded and left to die uncared 
for. How many poor fellows, sick and wounded, 
have been ministered to by her loving hands, 
and the soldiers of the Army of the Tennessee, 
who loved Mother Bickerdike, have said over 
and over again, ^^God bless Mother Bicker- 
dike/' 

One incident has come down to us which 
shows how she loved her boys. One morning, 
visiting one of the wards in a certain field hos- 
pital at about 11 o'clock a. m., she found the 
poor fellows had had no breakfast ; the doctor 
in charge, had not been present to make out 
the special diet list for each one, he having been 
out on a spree the night before. The doctor 
came in just as Mother Bickerdike learned the 
facts and she went for him. 



40 FOKT DONELSON 

^*You miserable scoundrel; here these men, 
anyone of them worth a thousand of you, are 
suffered to starve and die, because you want 
to be off on a drunk. Pull off your shoulder 
straps, for you shall not stay in the army a week 
longer ! * ' 

The doctor laughed at her, but within three 
days she had caused his discharge. He went to 
General Sherman to be reinstated. 

The General said: **Who caused your dis- 
charger' 

*^Why,'' said the doctor, hesitatingly, **I 
suppose it was that woman, Mrs. Bickerdike.'' 

**0h," said General Sherman. ^^Well, if it 
was she, I can do nothing for you; she ranks 
me.'' 

During the night, while we boys were trying 
to keep from freezing and wondering what the 
morrow would bring forth, the Confederate 
Generals held another council of war, deciding 
they could not hold out longer against Gen. 
Grant's army, and would surrender. 



FORT DONELSON 41 

Colonel Forrest (who commanded the cav- 
alary) during the council arose and said: **I 
will not surrender my command or myself/' and 
left the council. During the night, or early 
morning, he and his command escaped by wad- 
ing the river on our extreme right, which was 
unprotected by the Union forces. 

Colonel Forrest was a brave man and a ter- 
rible fighter, as our troops afterwards learned 
on numerous occasions. 

The two senior Generals of the Confederates 
turned the command over to Gen. S. B. Buck- 
ner, who somewhat scornfully notified his col- 
leagues, that if they proposed to escape they 
must do so speedily, for after he should open 
negotiations with General Grant no one would 
be allowed to leave the fort. 

I have always admired General Buckner for 
declining to leave, claiming as he did, that it 
was honorable to stay with his soldiers. 

During the night or early morning, Gen. 



42 FORT DONELSON 

Buckner sent a note, under a flag of truce, to 
Gen. Grant, asking an armistice to arrange 
terms of surrender. 

Without a moment's hesitation. Gen. Grant 
wrote the following answer, probably one of 
the finest specimens of energetic war literature 
in military history. 

*'No terms other than an unconditional and 
immediate surrender can be accepted. I pro- 
pose to move immediately upon your works.'' 

Upon the receipt of this, Gen. Buckner 
promptly returned his answer of acceptance. 

From this time on during the war. Gen. U. S. 
Grant was known as ^^Unconditional Surrender 
Grant." 

Will kept a diary and we are permitted to 
quote from it: 

**Soon after daybreak (Sunday, February 16, 
1862) we heard great cheering by the troops 
along the line and presently orderlys came gal- 
loping towards us, swinging their caps and pro- 



FORT DONELSON 43 

claiming the news of the surrender of the fort. 
Did we shout? Well, if we didn't use our lungs 
then we never did. Hip! Hip! Hurrah! from 
every man in blue. The victory was ours and 
we rejoiced over the fall of the Confederate 
stronghold. ' ' 

The Union loss was about 2,400, and the Con- 
federate loss was 2,000 killed and wounded, be- 
sides 15,000 prisoners and munitions of war. 

Presently the order to march was given and 
we marched into Fort Donelson with bands 
playing and colors flying. It was a grand sight, 
as regiment after regiment poured in with their 
flags floating gayly in the wind, and the brass 
bands playing, **Hail Columbia, '' ^* Yankee 
Doodle,'' etc., in such style as the gazing cap- 
tives had never heard even in the palmy days 
of peace. 

The Confederates were drawn up in line with 
their guns thrown down, and with a woebegone, 
sullen, downhearted look they watched our 
parading. 



44 FORT DONELSON 

A few of them told ns they were forced into 
the army and did their fighting unwillingly. 
We did not believe a word of it. We marched 
to the large fort next to the river and planted 
our colors upon the ramparts and then camped 
inside the fort. The prisoners were very anx- 
ious to know what their fate was to be. They 
were assured they would be taken north and 
kept as prisoners of war until exchanged. 

Gen. Lew Wallace was the first inside the 
works, and going to the Confederate headquar- 
ters was met by Gen. Buckner, who invited him 
to breakfast, which invitation was accepted, the 
bill of fare being coffee and corn bread. 

The fall of Fort Donelson was the first great 
and valuable victory won by the Union armies 
during the war. When the news flashed 
through the loyal states, the people went wild 
with enthusiasm. Salutes were fired, joy bells 
rung, flags displayed everywhere, and the peo- 
ple asked one another: *'Who is this Grant, 




K c 









so 



FORT DONELSON 45 

and where did he come from?'' Before the war 
closed the people found out who Grant was and 
what was in him. 

There were others in the battle of Donelson, 
who, afterwards became famous. There was 
our gallant Illinois soldiers, Colonel John A. 
Logan, the ^^ Black Eagle'' of Egypt; the bluff 
old Colonel Kichard Oglesby, both of whom be- 
came Major Generals, and after the war 
served in the United States Senate from the 
State of Illinois. Then Gen. Lew Wallace, 
of Indiana, the noted author of **Ben Hur,'' 
and Colonel John A. Kawlins, of Galena, 111., 
chief of staff of Gen. Grant, who, afterwards 
became Secretary of War under Grant, and 
many others. 

In speaking of Colonel Oglesby, we must give 
you an old story about him which happened 
while he was in command of the 8th Illinois 
Eegiment. One day while the regiment was 
in camp, two of the drum corps went into the 



46 FORT DONELSON 

woods to practice, and, while practicing, a nice 
fat pig came nosing around. The temptation to 
the drummers was too great ; the pig was caught 
and slaughtered, but now the thought came to 
them: **How shall we get into camp without 
discovery/' A happy idea, ** Let's put him in 
the big drum/' So the head of the drum was 
taken off and Mr. Pig safely stowed away, and 
they arrived at camp. The regiment was on 
dress parade when they arrived at camp. The 
Colonel was vexed at their absence, and as soon 
as he saw them, sternly ordered them to take 
their places with the music. The drummers did 
not know what to do, but one of them went up 
to the Colonel, and, in an under tone, told him 
the situation, winding up with, *^We 'low. 
Colonel, to bring the best quarter over to your 
mess." The Colonel thundered out: **Sick, 
hey! Why didn't you say so at first. Go to your 
quarters, of course. Battalion right face, to 
your quarters, march." The Colonel had fresh 
pork for supper. 



FORT DONELSON 47 

After the fall of Fort Donelson, the people 
of the North believed that it would be but a 
short time until the rebellion would be put 
down, and we boys could go home. Captain 
Johnson wrote home: ^*I believe it won't be 
over three months now until the rebellion will 
be squelched and we shall be permitted to go 
home.'' 

Yes, we boys thought then that we had broken 
the backbone of the rebellion, and that the war 
would soon be over. How badly mistaken we 
were history proves. It was but the beginning 
of a terrible four years of battle and bloodshed 
ere the end came. 



SHILOH 

CHAPTER IV. 

We remained in Fort Donelson for a little 
over two weeks. The weather was miserably 
wet, cold and disagreeable all the time, and the 
boys wondered why we didn't move on, and 
were getting impatient. 

* * Say, Will, how long do you think we are go- 
ing to stay in this miserable old hole?" 

^*I don't know, Jim; but I'll bet you a hard- 
tack that we will be marching within three 
days.'' 

** You seem to be so cocksure, I wonder if Gen. 
Grant has told you anything." 

^*No, Jim," said Will," he hasn't told me 
anything, nor do I believe he has told anybody 
what he is going to do, for I believe he is one 
of those silent men that talk very little." 

**Well, what makes you so certain we are go- 
ing to move soon ? ' ' 

**0h, I just put two and two together and 

49 



50 SHILOH 

add them up and it makes four. So, when I see 
them getting the horses and mules all shod and 
loading up our commissary and ammunition 
wagons to the top, I just say, that's two aild 
two and that makes four, and so we march. ' ' 

**Well, Will, you are a curious fellow, and 
if we do move soon, I '11 say you are one of the 
smartest fellows in camp." 

**0h, shaw! that isn't smartness, that's just a 
little common horse sense put to work." 

Will's prophecy came true, and in three days 
the victorious army under Grant started again 
for the Tennessee Eiver. On March 24, 1862, 
we landed at Pittsburg Landing on the west side 
of the Tennessee Kiver, and went into camp 
about two miles southwest of the landing. 

At this place Gen. Grant was assembling an 
army to march on to Corinth and attack Gen. 
Johnson's Confederate forces. Our troops had 
been located with a view to convenience, rather 
than in a compact line facing an enemy. The 



SHILOH 51 

great gaps between the different divisions indi- 
cated that the officers did not expect a general 
attack; still, I cannot see how they could have 
lulled themselves into this belief. To show that 
there had been signs of an enemy hovering near 
our camps, I will copy from an old diary kept 
by me at that time. I had forgotten this in- 
cident until reading it lately when it all came 
back to me as vividly as though of recent oc- 
currence. ^* April 4th. Today I am on guard 
as Sergeant of the Second Relief. 

^*At night the troops were ordered out in line 
of battle, word having come that an attack had 
been made upon our outer line of pickets. Our 
regiment moved to the right and in front of our 
camp. 

**My relief was on duty some little distance 
in the woods. Soon after the alarm was given, 
I received orders from the officer of the day to 
take off my sentinels and order each man to his 
respective company for duty. I proceeded to 



52 SHILOH 

obey orders and had passed about half way 
'round giving orders to my men, when, groping 
through the underbrush, I came to a sentinel 
whom I could not see very well because of the 
extreme darkness, and supposing he was one of 
my guard, I gave the order, and was just start- 
ing away when the sentinel called out sharply, 
*Halt.' I had given the countersign before, so 
I turned and wanted to know what was up. He 
informed me that he was on picket duty and 
wanted to know who I was and what I wanted. 
I explained the situation to him, which seemed 
satisfactory, and I was permitted to go. Ke- 
tracing my steps I found my own guard line. 
I had, in the darkness, stumbled into the picket 
line of another regiment and was ordering in 
soldiers with whom I had no business. The 
sentinel was all right and determined to do his 
duty, for as he cried halt he raised his musket, 
pulled the hammer and was ready to shoot, but 
as an obedient soldier I obeyed his command 



SHILOH 53 

and halted, and in so doing escaped being shot 
by one of our own soldiers. The troops were 
kept in line of battle until 10 o'clock p. m., when 
the officers, believing it to be a * scare,' ordered 
the soldiers to their respective camps." 

This incident tends to show that the enemy- 
was hovering near our immediate front. 

Calling a few years ago upon my old Colonel, 
Gen. John E. Smith, of the United States army 
(now deceased), and talking over some of our 
battles, I asked him about some feature of the 
battle of Shiloh, to which he replied: **Well, 
Wilbur, after reading all the histories and arti- 
cles published on the battle of Shiloh, I am in 
doubt whether I was there at all." But he was 
there, and by reason of his courage and skill 
merited the promotion he afterwards received. 

The Generals and officers have had almost 
a monopoly since the war, in telling how such 
and such a battle was fought, and the maga- 
zines have been filled with the story of General 



54 SHILOH 

So and So winning this battle and losing an- 
other. The Sergeants, Corporals and the pri- 
vates who did the hard fighting in the ranks 
have not been heard from very much. It 's about 
time we had our say, so that the future his- 
torian may gather facts from the ranks as well 
as from the officers, and thus be able to make a 
complete history. 

The ground at Shiloh is quite uneven and very 
woody, with here and there a field or ** clear- 
ing. ' ' 

There was a little log church near Gen. Sher- 
man's camp, called ^'Shiloh," where the bat- 
tle commenced, and the great battle of April 
6 and 7, 1862, has gone down in history as the 
battle of Shiloh. 

The Confederate army had approached our 
lines very quietly within two miles; the beating 
of drums had been forbidden and every pre- 
caution taken to keep the Union army from 
knowing of their presence. The sound of 



SHILOH 55 

^* taps'' in the Union army at 9 o'clock Satur- 
day night was distinctly heard in the enemy's 
camp, but we hard no *Uaps" from their army. 

Never did a morning open with brighter, hap- 
pier prospects than did that Sunday morning 
of April 6, 1862. Never did the sun beam forth, 
shedding its golden rays on a devoted, unsus- 
pecting army, with more loveliness. Never was 
a wilderness made more cheerful and inviting 
by the innocent chirpings and songs of myriads 
of warbling songsters, perched among the many 
trees of our camp, little dreaming of the ap- 
proaching dangers which was destined so soon 
to be drenched with human blood. 

Will, being an early riser from force of habit, 
having been raised on a farm, had been up long 
enough to have eaten his breakfast, while Jim, 
his bunk mate, was just coming out of his tent, 
when the rattle of musketry was heard out in 
front to the southwest. 

**Will, what was that noise off there, rum- 



56 SHILOH 

bling of the wagons T' inquired Jim. 

**No, Jim, I think its musketry firing.'* 

^*0h, said John Shannon. *^You are away 
off. There isn 't any enemy within miles of us. * ' 

While the boys were debating, the long roll 
sounded at headquarters, **bur-r-r-r rat-tat-tat- 
bur-r-r. ' ' 

The boys were astonished and startled, but 
they knew then what the noise they had heard 
meant, and each man jumping for his musket 
and cartridge box, fell into line without the 
word of command. In less than five minutes 
the regiment was in line ready for orders. This 
was about 6 o 'clock in the morning. After wait- 
ing impatiently for some fifteen or twenty min- 
utes, we received orders from Gen. McClernand, 
commanding our division, to move to the left 
a little and out in front to support Gen. Sher- 
man's division, whose troops were the first to 
receive an attack from the enemy, which was so 
fierce, desperate and sudden that some of his 



SHILOH 57 

troops were surprised and thrown into a panic. 
They rallied, however, and checked the foe. 
Soon heavy musketry and cannonading were 
opened on our immediate left. Again we were 
moved to the left to aid the troops now in mor- 
tal combat, and taking our position in the woods 
we awaited the enemy. 

Now, out of the forest in front march the 
gray line of battle, four columns deep, "with 
arms at a right shoulder shift. On the columns 
march, mthout a break in their ranks, carrjdng 
a flag which appears to be the stars and stripes. 

When they got near enough for our soldiers 
to open fire on them, we begin to get uneasy 
and want to commence firing. The men in the 
ranks realize that the first volley is needed now 
to check the oncoming foe. Jim was one of the 
nervous fellows and said to Will: **What does 
it mean I Why don^t our officers give the com- 
mand to fireT' 

Will replied: **You know the orders are not 



58 SHILOH 

to fire until the command is given.'' But even 
Will betlieved we were making a mistake in not 
firing, now that the enemy was in range. 

The strain for those few minutes becomes too 
intense. A few of the men commence to shoot 
without orders, when an officer rushes down the 
line shouting: *^ Cease firing, those are our 
troops.'' 

Two or three men of Will's company, who 
had no fear of an officer, and who now at this 
supreme moment seemed to know more than 
their officers, had been firing, among them Jim, 
who answered the officer : ' ^ The hell they are ! 
You will find out pretty d — d soon they are 
not." 

Will said: ^'Better obey the officer, Jim; but 
I can't blame you for swearing a little just 
now. ' ' The soldiers obeyed and ceased firing. 

Five minutes of terrible suspense, with that 
gray line advancing nearer and nearer; then 
suddenly a most destructive volley of musketry 



SHILOH 59 

was poured into our ranks, and our men fell like 
autumn leaves. Did we wait for orders to 
'^firef No! Every man opened fire, loading 
and discharging his gun as rapidly as possible, 
the roar of musketry from either side being ter- 
rific. The underbrush is mowed down by bul- 
lets. Men are shot in several places in the body 
in a moment. The dead lie where they fall, and 
the wounded drag themselves to the rear. Our 
rapid firing has now checked the onward march 
of the enemy in our immediate front, but the 
regiment and battery upon our right were not 
so fortunate, and with unearthly yells the enemy 
charge the battery. The gunners fight like 
heroes, manning their guns until bayoneted. 
The boys thought it was Schwartz's battery. 
The horses all being killed or Wounded the can- 
non could not be taken away and were cap- 
tured. It is related of an officer of this bat- 
tery that, later in the day, he rode up to Gen. 
Grant, and touching his cap, said : * * Sheneral, 



60 SHILOH 

I vants to make one report. Schwartzes bat- 
tery is took." 

**Ah," said the General; **how did that hap- 
pen?'' 

**Vell, you see, Sheneral, de secesh come up 
in front of us and dey flank us and so 
Schwartz's battery was took." 

**Well, sir," said the General; ^*you spiked 
the guns, of course ? ' ' 

**Vat!" exclaimed the officer; **schpike dem 
new guns. It would spoil dem." 

The regiment that supported this battery 
failed to stand up to the rack, and when the 
charge was made beat a retreat too soon. Our 
right flank was now about to be turned by the 
enemy, and the order was given to fall back a 
short distance. We fell back about two hun- 
dred yards and the lines were again formed. At 
this first engagement of the day we left a large 
number of our boys to sleep their last sleep. 
Again the battle was on, and the terrible work 



SHILOH 61 

of destruction went on all along the line. The 
screaming shells and whizzing bullets carried 
death and wounds wherever they went. The 
line of battle stretched for a distance of two 
miles and raged with fury the entire length, 
the enemy massing their forces at certain points 
and pushing the Union troops back, then at- 
tempting to flank the regiment to the right or 
left. Such were the tactics used by Generals 
Johnson and Beauregard, and they were well 
managed, indeed. 



CHAPTER V. 

One position after another was taken, and 
from each we were driven, or had to fall back 
for fear of being flanked. 

The third position our brigade took was on 
the brow of a small hill, where we held the 
enemy at bay for two hours, at one time charg- 
ing and driving them for a quarter of a mile, 
then falling back for lack of support on our 
right. 

A Confederate officer has said of Shiloh: 
*^The Confederate assaults were made by rapid 
charges along the line. They were repeatedly 
checked and often repulsed. Sometimes coun- 
ter charges drove them back, but whether in as- 
sault or recoil, both sides saw their bravest sol- 
diers fall in frightful numbers.'' This officer's 
statement is true to the letter. 

We then took a new position on the edge of an 
open field. For an hour we listened to and 

63 



64 SHILOH 

were in the midst of an artillery duel. At times 
the battle seemed to die out, and all was still 
in our immediate vicinity ; but this stillness only 
portended the fiercer the fight when again com- 
menced. 

About 3 o'clock our cartridges began to run 
low, and we borrowed each of the other until 
all was gone; we were holding the enemy, but 
now our guns were silent. What a helpless man 
a soldier is in a battle with no ammunition. 
We marched to the rear left in front in search 
of cartridges, and none too soon either, for a 
troop of the enemy's cavalry were seen on our 
right, trying to get in our rear and take us pris- 
oners. We had not gone far when we met a 
line of fresh troops, of whom we begged car- 
tridges, but the caliber was not the right size 
for our Enfield rifles and we could not use them, 
and we started on again hunting for cartridges, 
the enemy pressing us so hard that the Cap- 
tain of the rear company went rushing up to 



SHILOH 65 

the Colonel, exclaiming breathlessly : 

*^My God, Colonel, they are not fifty 3^ards 
from my company, and we haven't a shot to 
defend ourselves.^' 

**Keep cool," said the Colonel, '^and don't 
say anything, the enemy don't know we are out 
of ammunition, and we will come out all right 
yet." 

We had not gone far when we met a wagon 
loaded with cartridges. Caliber 58. Did you 
ever see a hungry lot of men wade into a bang- 
up dinner! 

Will was the first to mount the wagon and 
rip open one of the boxes in quick order, the 
men scrambling up into the wagon, and crying 
out: "Give me some, give me more!" The 
cartridge boxes and pockets were filled in short 
order. We then took our position on the right 
of our brigade, supporting a battery. 

The enemy soon opened on us with a heavy 
artillery fire, and either having the best guns 



66 SHILOH 

cr gunners silenced our cannon. The horses 
were killed, men wounded and killed, but the 
infantry held the line ; we felt strong and cour- 
ageous now, with plenty of cartridges. The men 
began to realize that this line must be held 
though every man fall. 

There was one place on the battle line of Sun- 
day which was occupied by the gallant troops 
under Gen. W. H. L. Wallace, and who held the 
enemy at bay for a long time, the Confeder- 
ates charging this place several times and be- 
ing repulsed each time. ^'Its a regular hor- 
net's nest,'' said one of the Confederate offi- 
cers, and the spot as located by the United 
States Commissioners of the Shiloh National 
Park, bears the name, ''Hornet's Nest," at the 
present time. It was at this point that the 
brave and beloved Gen. W. H. L. Wallace re- 
ceived his mortal wound. To the east of the 
''Hornet's Nest," a short distance, is the place 
where Commanding General of the Confeder- 




:/,n^^ 



The fight in the peach orchard at Shiloh 



SHILOH 67 

ate army, Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, was 
killed. I believe that Gen. Johnston was the 
greatest General of the Confederate army, and 
many others agree with me. 

A little to the rear of Gen. Wallace ^s troops 
was a small pond of water. The wounded sol- 
diers crawled to this pond to slake their thirst 
and bathe their wounds, and so many washed 
their wounds in this pond that the water looked 
like a pool of blood, and it was called the 
^^ Bloody Pond.'' 

The pond is still there, and has a fence around 
it, with a tablet giving its name, '* Bloody 
Pond, ' ' and captured cannon surround it. 

The Union forces that were left were now con- 
centrated in a much shorter line, with no gaps 
susceptible to a flank movement of the enemy. 

As the sun went down in the west I noticed 
it looked as red as blood, indicative of the 
bloody work we had been doing on that holy 
Sabbath day. Night again brooded o'er us. 



68 SHILOH 

With the awful carnage of blood and destruc- 
tion strewn over two miles, with thousands of 
killed and wounded on both sides, no doubt both 
armies were glad that darkness closed the ter- 
rible struggle, for the day at least. Our Or- 
derly Sergeant of our company called the roll 
and out of 55 that started in the morning, 31 an- 
swered *^here,'' and with the exception of two 
or three, the rest had been killed or wounded. 

We bivouacked on the firing line, the rain 
coming down during the night wetting us 
through and through. Our company was With 
others detailed for picket duty that night be- 
tween 10 and 12 o'clock, and stationed about 
two hundred yards in front of our line. 

Will was posted near a big tree. The night was 
pitch dark, and having had nothing to eat since 
morning he was tired and sleepy. But, realiz- 
ing the duty of a soldier never to fall asleep on 
the picket line, he tried in every way to keep 
awake. In telling his experience afterwards to 



SHILOH 69 

Jim, he said : ' ' I never worked harder. I pulled 
my hair and bit my lips to keep awake. About 
11 'clock I heard the cracking of twigs in front 
of me. The darkness was intense. I could see 
nothing, but sleepiness was gone then. I lis- 
tened intently. On it came, something, somebody 
making straight for me. I waited, with musket 
ready to fire, until I thought it time to make 
the challenge, and then cried out: ^Halt; Who 
goes there?' He halted, and out of the dark- 
ness came a voice saying: 

** *I am wounded and want to get to a sur- 
geon. ' I was not satisfied with this. He might 
be an enemy trying to capture the sentinels, and 
the enemy then would make a night attack on 
our sleeping army in the rear. So I plied him 
with questions as to his regiment, brigade and 
division, to which he answered in such a man- 
ner that he convinced me he was telling the 
truth, and I told him to advance. He came hob- 
bling along with a broken ramrod of a can- 



70 SHILOH 

non for a crutch, shot through the leg. I called 
the Sergeant of the Guard: ^Sergeant of the 
Guard, Post No. 6,' and the next sentinel took 
up the cry and pretty soon the Sergeant came 
and I turned the poor fellow over to be taken 
to the Surgeon.'' 

All things have an end. Twelve o 'clock came^ 
and, being relieved, we returned to the sleeping 
line, and, throwing ourselves on the ground, we 
at once fell asleep. All night the surly gunboats 
kept up a deadly fire on the enemy in front of 
our left. 

Twice during the night I awoke, and could 
hear the groans and cries of the wounded lying 
out there on that bloody field. Some cried for 
water, others for some one to come and help 
them. Many years have passed since that ter- 
rible day and night, yet when my mind reverts 
to that time, I can hear those poor fellows cry- 
ing for water. God heard them, for the heavens 
were opened and the rain came. 



CHAPTER VI. 

In the evening of April 6 a few of Gen. Buell's 
troops had arrived and were placed in position. 
Dnring the night the boats brought the balance 
of Buell's army across the Tennessee Eiver and 
they Were in line of battle ere the break of day. 

Volumes have been written about the battle 
of Shiloh. Some think BuelPs army saved us. 
Of course, they helped to win the second day's 
battle ; still there is nothing to prove that Gen. 
Grant's army would not have won without their 
assistance on the next day. 

Let me quote what I wrote over fifty years 
ago, when it was fresh in my mind : 

*^Some think it was Buell's army that saved 

the army of Gen. Grant from total destruction. 

I think otherwise, and my reason is this: we 

had been driven back so near the river that our 

lines were concentrated as before they were 

scattered. During the night Gen. Grant and 

71 



72 SHILOH 

his aides had perfected their line of battle, and 
Gen. Lew "Wallace's division had arrived from 
Crump's Landing, and every man left in the 
line knew that to retreat another foot meant 
total annihilation, and the words: 'We must 
whip them in the morning,' were upon every 
man's lips." 

The enemy was badly hurt, and Gen. Grant 
knew it and felt confident that victory must be 
ours on the morrow. 

The morning light had scarcely come on the 
7th of April when the roar of artillery an- 
nounced the opening of the second day's battle. 
The command, ''Forward," was given and the 
entire line moved forward. W^e were the ag- 
gressors today, and made the first attack. 

Fighting continued steadily, the enemy yield- 
ing every foot with great reluctance, stubbornly 
holding their ground, until 12 o'clock, when a 
general charge was made, and the tide of bat- 
tle was turned in favor of the Union forces. 



SHILOH 73 

During this charge, Will fell to the ground, 
thinking he was shot through the leg, for it hurt 
so badly he couldn't stand up; he pulled up his 
trousers to see where the minie-ball had struck 
him, to find that the ball had only grazed his 
shinbone, cutting a nice clean hole through his 
pants, but not bringing a drop of blood. Will 
was disgusted, that he should fall out with just 
a bruised shinbone, and jumping up he went 
limping after his company. 

By 3 o'clock Gen. Beauregard, who was now 
in command of the Confederate forces, gave the 
order for a retreat. They kept up a fight to 
cover their retreat until night, but when dark- 
ness came we were in possession of our old 
camps, where we bivouacked, filled as they were 
with the dead of both armies. We had no diffi- 
culty in sleeping well, even though the silent 
dead lay all about us. The dead do not disturb 
us ; it is the living we should be afraid of. We 
built fires and cooked our frugal meal, and. 



74 SHILOH 

after eating, we gathered 'round the camp fire 
and recounted the deeds of valor done during 
the great battle, speaking kind words of our 
brave comrades who had fallen. 

A few Sibley tents, torn and riddled by shot 
and shell, were all we had left. I lost my shirts, 
blankets, letters from home, my testament 
(mother's gift) and a picture of the ^^girl I 
left behind me.'' I was more indignant over 
the loss of my girl's picture then I was over 
the other articles. 

On Tuesday I was detailed with others to 
bury the dead lying within our camp and a 
distance of two hundred yards in advance. I 
had charge of digging the grave, if a trench 
over sixty feet long and four feet deep, can be 
called a grave. 

The weather was hot, and most of the dead 
had been killed early Sunday morning, and dis- 
solution had already commenced. The soldiers 
gathered the bodies up and placed them in 



SHILOH 75 

wagons, hauling them near to the trench, and 
piling them np like cord wood. 

We were furnished with plenty of whiskey, 
and the boys believed that it would have been 
impossible to have performed the job with- 
out it. 

When the grave was ready, we placed the 
bodies therein, two deep; the father, brother, 
husband and lover, all to lie till Gabriel's trum- 
pet shall sound. All the monument reared 
to those brave men was a board, nailed to a 
tree at the head of the trench, upon which I cut 
with my pocket knife, the words: *'125 rebels.'' 

We buried our Union boys in a separate 
trench, and on another board were these words : 
* ' 35 Union. ' ' Many of our men had been taken 
away and buried separately by their comrades. 
It was night when we finished the task, some 
of the squad, **half seas over" with liquor, but 
they could not be blamed, for it was a hard job. 
The next day we burned the dead horses and 
mules. 



76 SHILOH 

A few words about the great battle of Shi- 
loh, as an old veteran views it, as well as some 
words deduced from history. 

It has often been told that the enemy sur- 
prised us at Shiloh; that the men were asleep 
in their tents and were even bayoneted there. 
This most certainly is erroneous. The Confed- 
erate officers report that early Sunday morning, 
while they were planning the attack, their dis- 
cussion was abruptly brought to an end by the 
Union out posts commencing an attack on them. 

Our soldiers were not surprised in the sense 
of being taken off their guard. 

It was a surprise in the sense, that Gen. Grant 
and his officers did not expect an attack in force 
by the enemy, or if they did, they made a great 
mistake in not being prepared. The fact re- 
mains, we were not ready to receive the enemy ; 
not a shovelfull of earth had been thrown up for 
protection, and the several divisions were scat- 
tered so as not to form a continuous battle line. 



SHILOH 77 

If mistake it was on the part of Gen. Grant, he 
profited by it, for such a thing did not happen 
ever afterward. That the first day's battle of 
Shiloh was a stubborn and desperate battle can- 
not be denied. Badeau, in his military history 
of Gen. Grant, says : ^ ' For several hours of the 
first day there was as desperate fighting as was 
ever seen on the American Continent, and that, 
in proportion to the number engaged, equaled 
any contest during the rebellion.'' 

Gen. W. T. Sherman said : ^ 'I never saw such 
terrible fighting afterward. ' ' 

Gen. Grant has said : ^ ^ Shiloh was the sever- 
est battle fought in the west during the war, 
and but few in the east equaled it for hard, 
determined fighting." Again he says in his 
Memoirs, speaking of Shiloh: ^*I saw an open 
field the second day, over which the Confeder- 
ates had made repeated charges, so covered 
with dead that it would have been possible to 
walk across the clearing in any direction, step- 



78 SHILOH 

ping on dead bodies without the foot touch- 
ing the ground." 

Gen. McClernand and his division have never 
received their just meed of praise for his and 
their part in the battle of Shiloh. 

Gen. Grant in his later life says this : ^ ^ The 
heaviest loss sustained by the enemy was in 
front of Sherman's and McClernand 's divi- 
sions.'' 

The official records show that on April 5, 
1862, Gen. Grant had 39,830 men and officers 
for the first day's battle, and Gen. Johnston of 
the Confederates had 43,968 when we started 
the battle of Shiloh. 

The loss of the Confederates was 24 1-3 per 
cent; the loss of Grant's five divisions present 
for duty on Sunday was 26% per cent. The 
loss of the Army of the Tennessee under Grant 
at Shiloh was 10,944; the loss of the Army of 
the Ohio under Buell was 2,103. Only a few regi- 
ments of Buell 's army got into action late in 



SHILOH 79 

the evening of the first day. Total Union loss 
13,047, but this includes 2,314 Union prisoners 
of Gens. Prentiss' and Wallace's divisions; the 
loss of the Confederates was 10,699. 

I remember no amusing incidents during the 
battle, save that of one of my company, who 
was shot through the mouth in such a way as 
to knock out all of his front teeth. He was a 
German, who spoke English brokenly, and 
swore like a trooper; he would spit blood and 
then curse the enemy with great vehemence, 
and loading his gun and firing, would exclaim : 
* ^ D — 'em, dey tinks dey vill spile me so I can 't 
eat hard tack, d — 'em, I'll show dem!" And 
so he fought while his comrades cheered him 
on. 

It has been said that war is grand and heroic ; 
that fighting is a glorious thing ; so it is to read 
about, but the veterans of fifty years ago have 
seen war; they know what a horrible thing it 
is, and I believe that every old veteran who 



80 SHILOH 

has stood in the battle front, has it in his heart 
to say: **God grant that wars may cease, and 
that universal peace may come to this world of 
ours. ' ' 

Shiloh was a terrible battle, and now after 
fifty years have slipped by, I sit in my easy 
chair and occasionally dream of the past. I 
seem to hear again as vividly as then, the boom- 
ing of cannon, the rattle of musketry and the 
whiz of the minie-ball, amid the cries and 
groans of my comrades who touched elbows with 
me, and I ask myself: *^Can it be! Was I 
there, or is it a wild fancy of the brain ? ' ' The 
scenes come too vividly before my memory to 
doubt it, and I thank God that I was able with 
my comrades to bear a humble part in saving 
to those who come after us, this grand nation, 
and in helping to perpetuate but one flag, the 
Stars and Stripes — the ** Heaven-born banner" 
— to float over a reunited land and people. 



CHAPTER VIL 

Before leaving my story of the battle of Shi- 
loh, it will interest the reader to peruse the fol- 
lowing account of a visit of some of the par- 
ticipants in the battle, just 47 years after. 

The National Association of the Survivors of 
the Battle of Shiloh held their annual reunion 
on the battle field of Shiloh, April 6 and 7, 1909. 
Sixty-six veterans, with their wives and sons 
and daughters, boarded the steamer ^ * Santillo ' ' 
at St. Louis, Mo., April 2, 1909, and started for 
Pittsburg Landing, Tenn. On the morning of 
April 6, 1909, we landed at Pittsburg Landing, 
Tenn. Upon the bluff is the National Ceme- 
tery, where 4,000 Union soldiers lie buried, most 
of the head stones bearing the name ** Un- 
known.'' It is a beautiful cemetery, overlook- 
ing the Tennessee Eiver. The farmers from the 
surrounding country were there with their 
hacks and carryalls ready to be engaged for a 

81 



82 SHILOH 

reasonable sum to take the Northern visitors all 
over the battle field. Our party secured a 
rancher with a big wagon drawn by a pair of 
lazy mules (our objective point being the camp 
of the regiment of which we were members), 
over fine made, drained roads, and although it 
had rained heavily the night before, the roads 
were dry and clear of mud. We found a Na- 
tional Park of nearly 4,000 acres, laid out with 
roads in every direction ; we found monuments 
everywhere, as well as markers and tablets, de- 
noting the camp of every regiment and differ- 
ent positions held by each regiment and battery 
in the great battle of April 6 and 7, 1862. Great 
credit is due the Park Commissioners and 
Major D. W. Eeed (of the 12th Iowa Regiment), 
Secretary and Historian, for their magnificent 
work in making this beauty spot in Tennessee. 
Monuments have been erected by the different 
states in honor of their troops taking part in 
the battle. The South have also erected monu- 



SHILOH 83 

ments to the memory of the Confederate troops. 
The Alabama state monument was dedicated 
on April 7, 1909, both northern and southern 
men and women participating. The Daughters 
of the Confederacy of Alabama had sent flow- 
ers and a request that the ladies from the North 
would place them upon the monument, which 
the Chicago, Iowa and South Dakota ladies did. 
A prayer was offered and Capt. Irwin, an ex- 
Confederate, made an address, and he was fol- 
lowed by a Union veteran, eulogizing ^^Old 
Glory.'' Then a young man from the South 
spoke, saying among other things that he (Was 
glad he lived today instead of forty-seven years 
ago, for now, if the United States were called 
to a war, the North and South would go side by 
side, defending their common country. And 
then the company sang *^ Nearer, My God, to 
Thee.'' 

The two days at Shiloh battle field were 
filled with intense interest to all who were pres- 



84 SHILOH 

ent, especially the veterans who took part in the 
battle ; and where it happened that two or more 
members of the same regiment were present 
they would hunt up their camp ground and then 
find the different positions they held in the bat- 
tle line of those days, and standing on the same 
ground as then, live in memory again the terri- 
ble scenes of the long ago. The battle line of 
April 6 and 7, 1862, is about three miles in 
length and we visited most every part of the 
field, including the most noted places, viz.: the 
^* Hornet's Nest" and the *^ Bloody Pond." 

To those of our party who wended their way 
to Shiloh church, where the battle began, a 
unique experience awaited us. On April 6 
(there being about twenty-five from the boat 
present), upon coming in sight of the church, 
we beheld the citizens of the surrounding coun- 
try, with their wives and children, gathered 
from miles around. The Albert Sidney John- 
ston Camp of Confederate Veterans were hold- 



SHILOH 85 

ing their semi-animal meeting in the church, 
there being present probably twenty-five veter- 
ans. We were met by the veterans of the Con- 
federate army with a glad shake and a cordial 
invitation to remain to dinner with them, which 
was accepted, and we did enjoy their fried 
chicken and all the other good things. The din- 
ner was eaten with the sauce of reminiscences 
and repartee between the blue and the gray. 
We will give you one little incident in which 
the Union veteran seemed to get the worst of 
it. Noticing the leanness of the ex-Confeder- 
ates, the Union veteran said: ** Johnnie, how 
is it all you fellows look so lean, as though you 
hadn't enough to eatf The ex-Confederate, 
on a wooden leg, made quick reply: **Well, 
Yank, you see it's this way. You-uns shot us 
onto crutches and we-uns shot you-uns on the 
pension roll.'' After many a joke and story 
of the battle, the people adjourned to the church 
for services, the church being filled. Gen. Basil 



86 SHILOH 

Duke, one of the Shiloh Park Commissioners, 
gave a fine address, giving his experience in the 
battle of Shiloh, where he was wounded. He 
was in Morgan's command of the Confederate 
army. Among other things he said : 

**We fought in the Civil War for the cause 
w^e thought was right. We believed the rights 
guaranteed to us under the constitution were 
being taken away from us, and you must admit 
that our love for our homes and property is as 
dear to us of the South as it is to you of the 
North. The people of the North believed that 
to divide the United States would destroy this 
Nation. Time has proved under the providence 
of God that the judgment of the North was cor- 
rect, for had we succeeded in establishing the 
Confederate States of America, no doubt later 
on other states would have felt aggrieved on 
some question and would have seceeded, and in 
time, had our cause won, this nation would 
have been divided into a great many small prin- 



SHILOH 87 

cipalities governing themselves. Now the is- 
sues for the weal of this great Nation are as 
dear to ns of the South as you of the North. ' ' 

Gen. Duke closed his address by saying that : 
**We all rejoice at the fraternal feelings now 
existing between the North and the South, and 
hope that ever these bonds of love and good 
will between us may grow and cement us to- 
gether, stronger and stronger, and we shall con- 
tinue to prosper and enjoy the rights and priv- 
ileges of this great Nation.'' 

W. F. Crummer, of Chicago, 111., on behalf 
of the boys in blue and their friends, responded, 
contrasting the scenes of 47 years ago with those 
of today. He said in part: ^^It was a beauti- 
ful Sabbath morning, April 6, 1862. The birds 
were singing among the trees and nature was 
putting forth her verdure of green, when sud- 
denly the booming of cannon, the shrieking of 
shells and the rattle of musketry heralded the 
beginning of one of the most terrible battles of 



88 SHILOH 

the Civil War. I will not take the time to re- 
late all my experiences of that battle, but simply 
say this, that when, on Monday evening, we had 
regained our camp, we found a few Sibley tents 
all riddled with shot and shell, and while you, 
ex-Confederates here, had possession of our 
camp you took my knapsack, blanket, the testa- 
ment my mother gave me, which I hope you 
read and profited thereby. You are welcome 
to that, but one thing you took made me feel 
badly, and that was the picture of the girl I left 
behind me, and I am here today to ask you to 
return that picture. The scene of that awful 
field of carnage and bloodshed changes. Today, 
after 47 years have rolled by, the birds are 
singing in the trees and nature is putting forth 
its green as then, and all is peaceful, and in- 
stead of cannon and bullets greeting us you 
meet us with open hands and extend to us a 
cordial greeting and your bountiful hospitality. 
Our hearts are moved and we thank you most 



SHILOH 89 

heartily. We rejoice with you that today we 
know no North, no South, no East, no West, 
but a reunited country, with one flag and one na- 
tion, the grandest Nation on the earth. We 
trust that we shall always remain a happy and 
prosperous people, both North and South, work- 
ing together for the good of the entire coun- 
try. The feeling of good fellowship shown us 
today indicates that we are one in spirit and 
love for our Nation. May we all so live that 
when the roll is called up yonder we may an- 
swer ^Here,' and enter into the heavenly land 
our God has prepared for us. Again thanking 
you for your most kindly greeting and hospi- 
tality, I bid you Godspeed until we meet again. ' * 
The meeting was dismissed in a novel man- 
ner. All rose and, shaking hands, sang as they 
marched around the church, to a Southern 
melody: *^It's All Over Now; It's All Over 
Now,'' and with many a **Come and see us 



90 SHILOH 

again, ' ' the veterans and their friends from the 
North bade their Tennessee friends a hearty 
good bye. 



VICKSBURG 

CHAPTER VIII. 

A half of a century has passed since the 
memorable Vicksburg campaign of the Civil 
War began in the year 1863. 

It was my lot to take part in the Vicksburg 
campaign, and, in giving some reminiscences of 
that siege, I must speak from the standpoint of 
a soldier of the 45th Illinois Regiment, Gen. 
Logan ^s division in Gen. McPherson's 17th 
Army Corps, being a part of Gen. Grant's army. 
Before taking you to the actual siege we must 
carry you with the army from Milliken's Bend 
on the Louisiana shore above Vicksburg round 
on the west side of the Mississippi River to 
Bruinsburg, 70 miles below Vicksburg, and tell 
you of the marches and battles we had before 
we entered the city. In the spring of 1863 we 
find Gen. Grant and his army of 30,000 men en- 
camped at Milliken's Bend. We could not cross 
the river at that point and attack Vicksburg 

91 



92 VICKSBURG 

from the north, inasmuch as a large portion of 
that country was an impassable swamp. The 
first plan devised was to cut a canal to the west, 
thereby changing the current of the river, by 
which it was proposed to carry troops, forage 
and ammunition by transports south of Vicks- 
burg, but this scheme proved ineffectual and 
was abandoned. Where Vicksburg stands, the 
cliffs rise abruptly from the water's edge 200 
feet. Twenty-eight heavy guns were mounted 
on the river front, all of which had a plunging 
fire. Our gunboats could not elevate their guns 
to do them any damage. Vicksburg was im- 
pregnable from the north and the river front. 
Jeff Davis said: ^^ Vicksburg is the Gibralter of 
America. ' ' By the way, speaking of Jeff Davis 
reminds me he had a plantation not far from 
Vicksburg. Soon after the Yankees reached 
that vicinity, Jeff's slaves deserted him, bag and 
baggage, and a queer lot of contrabands they 
were, indeed. 



VICKSBURG 93 

Notice the daring plan of Gen. Grant, namely, 
to take his army around on the Louisiana shore 
to a point south of Vicksburg, cross the river, 
cut loose from his base of supplies and enter the 
enemy's country. 

Gen. Grant devised the plan to have Admiral 
Porter's gunboats and several steamboats, 
loaded with rations and ammunition, run the 
batteries at Vicksburg and be ready to trans- 
port the army across the river. The first in- 
timation the rank and file had of such a thing 
was a notice that our Colonel received one day 
from the Commanding General: that volunteers 
were wanted to man the steamboats; to act as 
firemen, engineers, pilots, etc. The Adjutant 
called the regiment into line, and the Colonel 
explained what was wanted. He told the sol- 
diers of the dangerous undertaking ; that in all 
probability the steamers would be riddled with 
shot and shell and many might perish. Not- 
withstanding all this, if there were any who 



94 VICKSBURG 

would volunteer for this service, let them step 
three paces to the front. Almost the entire 
regiment stepped to the front. There was one 
Lieutenant who did not step to the front. Suf- 
fice it to say he was never promoted. The rea- 
son is obvious. The Colonel then told the Cap- 
tains to select those who had had some experi- 
ence on the river, and enough men were found 
to man a hundred steamers. There was one 
of those brave volunteers of our regiment — 
Charlie Evans — who held to the pilot wheel, 
when a cannon ball went crashing through the 
pilot house, driving pieces of timber against 
him with such force that he never fully recov- 
ered, and a few years after we buried him at 
Galena, 111. Now the boats are loaded and 
manned by those brave boys from the North- 
ern prairies. All is ready, the night is propi- 
tious, the signal is given and Admiral Porter's 
flotilla of gunboats and steamers start down the 
river on the 16th day of April, 1863, to run 



VICKSBURG 95 

that storm of fire and iron hail. The enemy 
endeavored to send those boats and their heroic 
crews to ^'Davy Jones' Locker'' that night, but 
with the exception of one boat, the *^ Henry 
Clay," they finally passed through. For two 
hours and forty minutes the fleet was under 
fire. Every transport was struck and disabled. 
For eight miles the enemy's cannon hurled shot 
at them, but the loss of men was small in killed 
and wounded. Now the gunboats and steam- 
boats have run the rebel batteries and are be- 
low the city ready to transport the troops and 
cannon from the west bank of the river to the 
east. 

Prior to the running of the batteries, many 
of the troops had marched down on the Lou- 
isiana side of the river to Hard Times and 
Bruinsburg, and were waiting for the boats to 
arrive, with much anxiety, fearful that they 
would not stand the awful hammering the 
enemy would give them. The first to show up 



96 VICKSBURG 

was the burning wreck of the ^* Henry Clay.'^ 
As it floated by an old southern man whose mag- 
nificent mansion bordered the Mississippi River, 
rubbed his hands in glee, exclaiming, ^' Where 
are your gunboats now? Vicksburg has put 
an end to them all." Not long after his jubi- 
lant remark the gunboats appeared coming 
down the river, and presently the whole fleet 
hove in sight; then the boys, turning to the 
haughty Southerner, said: ''Did Vicksburg 
put an end to them all ? " The old man was too 
mad to endure the taunts, and turning away, 
hid himself. The next day he set fire to his 
own home rather than allow it to shelter his 
fancied enemies. 

About this time there was excitement in Rich- 
mond and Washington. The Confederate gov- 
ernment was amazed that their ''Gibralter" 
should have been passed by the ''Yankee" fleet 
of gunboats. At Washington, consternation 
took hold of the officers at the war office. Gen. 



VICKSBURG 97 

Grant had not informed Gen. Halleck of his 
plans as to the capture of Vicksburg. Halleck 
was angry and sent a dispatch ordering Gen. 
Grant to turn back, but the dispatch failed to 
reach its destination. There had been a de- 
termined effort made at Washington by some 
Senators and Governors and friends of other 
Generals, to have Grant removed from his com- 
mand; but President Lincoln said to them: ^'I 
rather like the man; I think we'll try him a 
little longer. ' ' So, because of the faith of Lin- 
coln in Grant's ability, it became possible for 
him to make that most remarkable campaign 
and capture of Vicksburg. I believe it is a 
fact, that now, in the military schools of Europe, 
the military campaign of Gen. Grant at Vicks- 
burg is studied and considered by authorities 
as one of the most daring and brilliantly exe- 
cuted movements in modern warfare. 

Now for the campaign as seen from a sol- 
dier's view. The army has been conveyed 
across the river. The enemy falls back to Port 



98 VICKSBURG 

Gribson, burning the bridges across the Bayou 
Pierre. The loss of the bridges does not delay 
the army very long, for we are supplied with 
boats or pontoons; with these, in addition to 
lumber from fences, houses and barns, a bridge 
is soon built. After crossing the pontoon bridge 
we soon encountered the enemy at Thompson 
Hill or Port Gibson. A sharp fight ensues, but 
the enemy is soon routed and retreats. During 
our fight at Thompson Hill we had with us that 
day a Congressman from the North. He had 
a horse and was riding with our Colonel when 
the quick rattle of musketry in our front was , 
heard. The order was quickly given and we 
were moving forward in line of battle. Pres- 
ently the usual noisy introduction of the sharp 
crack of the musket and the whiz of the minie- 
ball opened the exercises. There was a deep 
ravine a little in our rear. The Congressman 
or his horse was very tired and remained in 
the ravine until he heard the wild cheer of our 



VICKSBURG 99 

victorious charge, when he came out of that 
ravine on the gallop, swinging his hat and 
shouting : ' ' Give it to 'em, boys. ' ' It Vas safe 
then. But you couldn't blame him much. He 
wasn't getting the enormous sum of $13 per 
month to be shot at. A Congressman's salary 
didn't justify the sacrifice of being riddled with 
bullets. 

■ Three days' rations are issued to the sol- 
diers and this we are told must sustain us for 
the next five days. The march is then resumed. 
On May 12th, at 11 o'clock, we meet the enemy, 
5,000 strong, at Raymond, and the fight is 
opened by the artillery and a sharp battle is 
fought. The enemy charge our lines, but are 
repulsed, the fighting continuing until about 2 
o'clock p. m., when the order for a charge is 
given and forward with a cheer the boys go, 
the enemy breaking and retreating. We occupy 
the town of Raymond that night. The dead 
are buried; the wounded are cared for and by 



100 VICKSBURG 

daybreak the next morning we are on the march, 
headed for Jackson, Miss., to clean out Gen. 
Johnston, and his army that he has concen- 
trated at that place. Our rations are getting 
short, but the country affords us a fair supply 
of some things, such as fresh pigs, chickens and 
vegetables, which we take as a matter of crip- 
pling the enemy as well as to satisfy the hun- 
gry boys in blue. Our march begins at 4 o 'clock 
in the morning. One day we marched all day 
in the drizzling rain and at night when we 
camped we were wet to the skin, hungry and 
tired, but not one word of grumbling could be 
heard. On May 14, 1863, we arrive at the out- 
skirts of Jackson and meet the enemy. During 
the battle at Jackson a rather amusing inci- 
dent happened. We were in line of battle and 
had moved up to the vicinity of a plantation 
around which were scattered a number of bee 
hives. Now, had we not been engaged with the 
enemy, our boys would have liked nothing bet- 



VICKSBUEG . 101 

ter than to have despoiled those bees and 
supped on honey, but for the present we had im- 
portant work on hand. The bees were quiet 
enough until the minie-balls went crashing 
through their hives, when they came out and 
rushed at us with terrible ferocity. Men can 
stand up and be shot at, all day, with the deadly 
musket, but when a swarm of bees pounces 
upon a company of men in concert, it's beyond 
human nature to stand it, and so two or three 
companies retired from the field. In fact, our 
lines were re-formed in that particular locality 
so as to avoid those Southern bees. They had 
no ^^ rebel yell,'' but their charge on us was a 
successful one. We sometimes captured things 
we did not want. At Jackson we captured a 
smallpox hospital and its inmates. We didn't 
want it, you may be sure, for everybody kept 
at a respectful distance from it. 

The battle of Jackson is fought, the final 
charge is made and the city is ours. Gen. Johns- 
ton and his army retreating to the north and 



102 VICKSBURG 

east. The final charge made by the Iowa boys 
under Gen. Crocker of Iowa, was one of the 
most superb and gallant of the war. Gen. Grant 
said that, with the exception of Sherman and 
Sheridan, Gen. Crocker was the best division 
commander in the army. We are now 80 miles 
from Grand Gulf and 50 miles east of Vicks- 
burg. Immediately the army is wheeled about 
and faced toward Vicksburg, and the march 
commences to that city. 



CHxiPTER IX. 

On May 16, 1863, at Champion Hill, the enemy 
was encountered, strongly stationed, on a series 
of ridges or hills, naturally well adapted for 
defensive purposes. Here we met Gen. Pem- 
berton's army of over 40,000 men coming out 
of the entrenched position in the city to make 
mince meat of Gran 't army. The battle opened 
early in the forenoon and raged for half a day, 
in which only 15,000 soldiers, or a poi-tion of 
Grant's army, was engaged. It was one of the 
hard-fought battles of the war and one of the 
most bloody. The battle was mainly fought by 
McPherson's 17th Army Corps and Hovey's 
division of the 13th Corps. 

Gen. Logan's charge on the extreme right, 
about three o'clock in the afternoon, was one of 
the finest charges of troops that I witnessed 
during the war, and I was in nine different bat- 
tles. It has been said that at the battle of 

103 



104 VICKSBURG 

Champion Hill for a time there was as fierce 
fighting as any seen in the west. The colors 
of my regiment were riddled with bullets and 
our color guards were all killed or wounded. 
About three o'clock the enemy gave way and 
commenced a retreat towards Vicksburg. 

After driving the enemy from the field those 
engaged all day were tired out and halted for a 
time on the battle field. I would like to por- 
tray the scene that we gazed upon. It was a 
horrible picture and one that I carry with me 
to this day. All around us lay the dead and dy- 
ing, amid the groans and cries of the wounded. 
Our surgeons came up quickly and, talking pos- 
session of a farm house, converted it into a hos- 
pital, and we began to carry ours and the 
enemy's wounded to the surgeons. There they 
lay, the blue and the gray intermingled; the 
same rich, young American blood flowing out 
in little rivulets of crimson; each thinking he 
was in the right ; the one conscious of it today, 



VICKSBURG 105 

the other admitting now it were best the Union 
should be maintained one and inseparable. The 
surgeons made no preference as to which should 
be first treated; the blue and the gray took 
their turn before the surgeon's knife. What 
heroes some of those fellows were; with not a 
murmer or word; with no anaesthetic to sooth 
the agony, but gritting their teeth, they bore the 
pain of the knife and saw, while arms and legs 
were being severed from their bodies. There 
was just one case that was an exception to the 
rule. He was a fine-looking officer and Colonel 
of some Louisiana regiment of the Confederate 
army. He had been shot through the leg and 
was making a great ado about it. Dr. Kittoe, 
of our regiment, examined it and said it must 
be amputated ; the poor fellow cried and howled : 
^'Oh, I never can go home to my wife on one 
leg. Oh, oh, it must not be.'' ^*Well," said the 
gruff old surgeon, ^Hhat, or not go home at 
all." The Colonel finally said yes, and in a 



106 VICKSBURG 

few minutes he was in a condition (if he got 
well) to wear a wooden leg when he went home 
to his wife. 

The enemy are retreating to the city to get 
behind the breastworks, and Grant's army is 
pushing them right along every day. It is 
twenty days now since the campaign began. In 
that time the army has marched nearly 200 
miles, beaten two armies in five different bat- 
tles, captured 27 heavy cannon and 61 pieces 
of field artillery; taken 6,500 prisoners and 
killed and wounded at least 6,000 of the enemy. 
Starting without teams and with an average of 
three days' rations in the haversacks, we sub- 
sisted principally on forage found in the coun- 
try. Only five days' rations had been issued 
in twenty days. Still, neither suffering nor 
complaint was witnessed in the command. The 
army was in fine condition, so Gen. Grant said. 
Since it had left Milliken's Bend it had marched 
by day and night, through mud and rain, with- 



VICKSBURG 107 

out tents and on irregular rations. Gen. Grant 
said then: *^My force is composed of hardy 
and disciplined men, who know no defeat and 
are not Willing to learn what it is." Well, if 
marching day and night in the mud and rain, 
on short rations, made us hardy, I reckon he 
told the truth. I tell you today, after 50 years 
have passed, I can remember the gnawing of 
hunger on that memorable march, and I recollect 
one day spying a piece of bacon rind at the 
road side, which some more fortunate soldier 
had thrown away, and grabbing it as a great 
treasure I removed the dirt and ate it with a 
ravenous appetite. Before we get to Vicksburg 
we must have another battle at the Big Black 
River. The enemy were discovered in force, 
strongly posted near the bridge. The day was 
hot and Gen. Lawler, who was rushing around 
in his snirt sleeves, discovered that by moving 
one portion of his brigade through the brush 
under cover of the river bank, the remainder 



108 VICKSBURG 

to push directly against the left flank of the 
enemy, he could reach a position where he would 
be able to carry the works by storm. As soon 
as his troops were properly placed, Gen. Law- 
ler led his boys in blue in a magnificent charge, 
capturing one entire brigade of the enemy, and 
forcing the remainder to beat a hasty retreat 
to Vicksburg. 

On May 18, 1863, Gen. Grant ^s army invested 
the enemy's defenses of Vicksburg and then 
commenced a siege that lasted for 47 days, an 
account of which it is my purpose to give as 
concisely as possible. The enemy's breast- 
works encircled the city somewhat in the shape 
of a horseshoe, being about eight miles in length. 
The ground around the city is very rough ; steep 
hills, deep gullies, underbrush, cane and wil- 
lows and everything to impede the army. Gen. 
Grant, with about 30,000 men, had cooped up 
Gen. Pemberton and his army of over 35,000 
men. (Seven wedks later P. surrendered 30,- 



VICKSBURG 109 

000 men.) Soon after Gen. Grant had assigned 
his several Corps Commanders to their places 
(Gen. Sherman being on the right, Gen. Mc- 
Pherson in the center and Gen. McClernand on 
the left), several charges were made at differ- 
ent points on the line, but owing to the strong 
forts and entrenchments, the enemy repulsed 
us with heavy loss. The union lines, however, 
are advanced, positions for artillery are se- 
lected, and the daily duel of the sharpshooters 
is opened up in the immediate front. 

After so much marching and fighting, the 
boys in blue are weary and hungry, and a few 
days' rest is granted the men, that they may 
attend to some washing and cleaning up. Very 
few of us had a second shirt to wear. Toward 
the close of the war but few carried knapsacks ; 
it wasn't necessary. It is related of an Irish- 
man that, upon being asked why he didn't go 
to the Quartermaster and draw a knapsack, re- 
plied: **An' what do I want a knapsack 



110 VICKSBURG 

forT' **Wliy, to put your clothes in, Pat/' 
*^Sure, an' if I should go on dress parade wid 
me clothes in me knapsack the Colonel would 
be after puttin' me in the guard house." May 
21st we are furnished with a good square meal 
by Uncle Sam — if hard tack, sow bacon, beans 
and coffee can be called a square meal. We so 
considered it after the hardships of the last 
month. And having been strengthened in the 
inner man with plenty of food. Gen. Grant pro- 
poses to carry Vicksburg by storm on the mor- 
row. May 22, 1863. Shall we ever forget that 
desperate charge? No, and I believe had Gen. 
Grant known at the time how strongly the en- 
emy were entrenched and how valiantly they 
would fight, he would never have ordered that 
charge. He thought, no doubt, as we soldiers 
believed, that having been so successful in meet- 
ing the enemy recently, we could whip any 
armed force that opposed us. May 22, 1863, 
the order was given to commence the attack at 



VICKSBURG . Ill 

10 o'clock. At that hour the battle opened; 
every piece of artillery was brought to bear 
on the works; sharpshooters at the same time 
began their part; nothing could be heard but 
the continual shrieking of shells, the booming 
of cannon and the sharp whiz of the minie-ball. 
At the time the assault was attempted our biv- 
ouac was in a ravine just east of the *^ White 
House,'' or ^^ Shirley House." Running in 
front of the house was the main Jackson wagon 
road leading into the city. For about five hun- 
dred yards the road had been cut down in the 
ridge to a depth of a man's head, then the ridge 
sloped a little and the road opened out in plain 
view of the forts of the enemy not 200 yards 
distant. We marched in columns of four 
through this cut in the road until we reached 
the point where we would be exposed to the 
enemy's guns, then we were to deploy to the 
left along the slope of the hill, until the entire 
regiment was out of the road, when at the word 



112 VICKSBURG 

of the commanding officer— ** By the right flank, 
charge'' — we were to go over the enemy's 
works. As we came out of that road Major 
Cowan gave the command, ^^ double quick," and 
we started across that open space. Major 
Cowan, commanding the regiment, fell at the 
first volley from the enemy, having only taken 
a step or two. 

The enemy was watching and the instant we 
appeared in sight they opened into us an awful 
volley of shot and shell. There was no one to 
give the command to halt, or right face and 
charge; the Major was killed and the ranking 
Captain didn't know it. We went as far in that 
hail of death as we thought would be sufficient 
for the regiment to form in line of battle, and 
then we dropped flat on the ground. Being 
First Sergeant of Company A of my regiment, 
I was at the head of the reginjent with Major 
Cowan when we started across that deadly piece 
of open ground, the Major falling by my side, 



VICKSBURG 



113 



but I kept right on at the head of the regiment 
until space enough was given the regiment to 
form in line under the brow of the hill. The 
ground sloped down hill from the enemy ^s para- 
pet, and by flattening one's self about as flat as 
a hard tack, he was comparatively safe from 
the musketry fire of the enemy. The regiment 
came through, but the dead and wounded lay 
thick over that stretch of 200 yards. The order 
to charge the works was, after a short time, 
given by the ranking Captain, and we started 
up the hill, to be met by a sweeping volley of 
musketry at short range, which mowed the men 
down in bunches. We could not return the fire, 
for the enemy were safe behind their breast- 
works. Some of our men reached the top of the 
parapet, but fell as fast as they climbed up. 
No troops could face such a destructive fire 
from a protected enemy. Presently the order 
is given to fall back, and we retire under the 
brow of the hill and remain there until after 



114 VICKSBUBG 

dark, when we took our usual place in the rear 
of the ' ' White House. ' ' The charge of my regi- 
ment is but a picture of all other regiments 
that took part on that day. The assault was no 
more successful at other points of the line, and 
the Union army suffered great loss. The works 
were strongly constructed and well arranged to 
sweep the approaches in every direction; their 
position was too strong, both naturally and arti- 
ficially, to be taken by storm. Wherever the 
assault was attempted, the hillsides were cov- 
ered with the slain and wounded, many of them 
lying in the hot sun during the day crying for 
water, which could not be taken to them. Three 
thousand Union soldiers were killed or wounded 
in this disastrous charge ; more men in this one 
charge were lost than were lost during the late 
Spanish War. The army was now made sadly 
sure that over ground so rough and with such 
strong forts and entrenchments it could not 
hope to carry Vicksburg by storm. It clearly 



VICKSBURG 115 

proved the great advantage an army has in hav- 
ing breastworks and entrenchments to cope with 
the enemy. Gen. Grant had had such wonder- 
ful success so far that he really thought his 
troops could walk right up to and inside those 
fortifications. But the fact has been demon- 
strated that the loss of precious lives would be 
too great, and preparations for a siege were be- 
gun and the pick and shovel were brought into 
requisition. Saps and rifle trenches were con- 
structed and in these our sharpshooters were 
continually on the lookout for the hidden enemy. 
Before we had constructed outer rifle pits so 
as to make them corparatively safe, our boys 
with their bayonets and a tin plate, dug little 
holes in the ground and on top of the earth 
placed a few fence rails. Between these rails 
our men could pick off the sharpshooters of the 
enemy and many a duel was had here between 
the pickets of the two armies. 



CHAPTER X. 

The duels between the sharpshooters of the 
two armies were fierce and deadly. All of us 
like heroes. There were many heroes beside 
the great Generals. Here is one from the ranks. 
John Battle Harrison was wounded at Shiloh 
and again at Champion Hills. When told by the 
surgeon to go to the hospital, he refused and 
remained fighting in the ranks with a wound 
that would have taken hundreds of others to 
the hospital. This brave soldier was killed in 
one of the sharpshooter duels. Our company 
was on duty on the skirmish line all day, and 
we could not bury him until night; then dur- 
ing the dark hours of the night we dug a grave 
on the hillside, and wrapping his blanket around 
him, we left him to sleep until the great re- 
veille is sounded. I thought that night of the 

117 



118 VICKSBURG 

lines I used to speak in school when a boy : 

"Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note 
As his corpse to the rampart we hurried; 
Not a soldier discharged his farewell shot 
O'er the grave where our hero we buried." 

But we must not falter if our comrades do 
fall, but take up our duty of the soldier on the 
morrow and battle for the right. Now we are 
digging trenches and making breastworks, as 
well as running a sap toward the enemy's lines 
by using the sap-roller. My young friends may 
ask what a sap-roller is. We boys used to call 
it a *^ bullet-stopper.'' Suppose we take two 
empty barrels and lash them together, one on 
top of the other, then wrap them 'round and 
'round with willow saplings, fill them with 
earth, put a cover on, lay them down, and you 
have a sap-roller. By keeping this in front of 
a couple of men, they could dig a trench directly 
toward the enemy's lines, and still be protected 
from the deadly minie-balls. We dug trenches 
and moved towards the enemy until the two 



VICKSBURG 119 

picket lines were within hail of each other. One 
of the ^^ Johnnies'' made an agreement with 
one of our boys that they should lay down their 
guns and have a talk, which they did. The Con- 
federate said our guns had killed many in the 
trenches. Sometimes there was a richness in 
the repartee between the Union and Confeder- 
ate pickets that is worth repeating. One day 
a ** Johnnie'' calls out: **What are you men 
doing over there?" and quick comes the an- 
swer: *^ Guarding 30,000 Johnnies in Vicks- 
burg, and making them board themselves. ' ' An- 
other picket asks the question: **Why don't 
you come and take VicksburgI" and the Union 
replies : ' ' Oh, we 're in no particular hurry ; Gen. 
Grant is not yet ready to transfer you North. ' ' 
The pickets of both armies were good natured 
and used to brag of their ability to whip each 
other. The gunboats and mortars from the 
river side make things lively for the people in- 
side the city. Day after day the sharpshooters 



120 VICKSBURG 

are at work; the cannonading is kept up; the 
saps are approaching the enemy ^s stronghold 
still nearer and nearer. The bursting of shells 
over our heads, while resting in our camps, 
tended to make things lively, in many instances 
causing wounds and death. One day the boys 
of my regiment were cooking a mess of beans 
for dinner (beans were on the bill of fare every 
day). The beans were being cooked in one of 
those large camp kettles that were hung from 
a pole resting on two upright sticks driven into 
the ground. The beans were supposed to be 
done. The dinner hour was near at hand; two 
of the boys took hold of the pole and lifted the 
kettle from its resting place to put it to one side. 
Just then the sharp whirr of a piece of shell 
from overhead was heard and the next instant 
it went crashing through the bottom of that 
kettle, carrying beans and all with it, burying 
it in the earth. The two soldiers, still holding 
the pole in their hands, looked at each other 



VICKSBURG 121 

in disgust for a moment, and then one of them, 
turning around, called out to the waiting hun- 
gry soldiers: ^^Boys, your beans have gone to 
h— 1.'' 

The boys in the ranks had no use for a 
^^dude" officer. Gen. McPherson, who com- 
manded our corps (a braver or finer gentleman 
never breathed), had on his staff a fine offi- 
cer, but who was very fond of dress, and when 
he would ride along the line of march, in his 
velvet suit, the boys would guy him unmerci- 
fully. One day this Colonel came into the 
trenches, and, stopping opposite where I stood 
on the embankment behind the gabions, ad- 
dressed one of our boys thus: *' Sergeant, do 
you see the enemy from this point?'' The Ser- 
geant replied: '*Yes, sir, by looking through 
this hole in the log, down that ravine you will 
occasionally see the enemy crossing." The 
Colonel got up, looked through the hole, and 
saw some Confederates crossing the ravine, and 



122 VICKSBURG 

then he was moved to take a hand in the game, 
and turning 'round, said : ^ ^ Sergeant, load your 
rifle and let me have a pop at those fellows." 
**A11 right. Colonel," and while he was still 
looking, the Sergeant at his rear, loaded the 
musket. The gun had been in use most of the 
day, and was pretty foul and if not held just 
right, would kick fearfully. Well, wicked sin- 
ner that the soldier was, he took two cartridges, 
using two charges of powder and one bullet, 
and loaded the Enfield rifle, put the percussion 
cap on and handed it to the Colonel and, step- 
ping back into the trenches, awaited develop- 
ments. The Colonel got ready, saw his man, 
pulled the trigger and — tumbled back into the 
trench. He handed the gun back, remarking: 
**Your gun. Sergeant, recoils considerable," 
and the innocent (?) soldier said, ^'Does it?" 
The Colonel did not ask for a second shot. I'll 
warrant he had a black and blue shoulder for 
a month. The poor Colonel has passed away 



VICKSBUKG 123 

and the Sergeant never had the opportunity to 
apologize to him. 

The sap-roller with the boys in blue behind 
it are gaining every day in digging trenches 
toward Fort Hill. The men of Gen. Logan's 
division are employed in this work, and the plan 
is to undermine the enemy's Fort Hill and blow 
it up. While we had to be under fire from the 
enemy constantly, we were better off than they; 
not only did they suffer from a continuous shell- 
ing by the cannons and mortars, and the in- 
cessant rattle of musketry, but they had to do 
it on pretty empty stomachs, for toward the 
last they were reduced to a very meager diet, 
while we were having plenty of bacon, hard 
tack, coffee, etc. The price of food inside the 
city at that time was a little higher than in 
Chicago. How do these prices please you: 
Flour, $1,000 a barrel; meal, $140 a bushel; beef, 
$2.50 per pound, and mule meat, $1 per pound. 

What could you expect when there was a 



124 VICKSBURG 

continuous siege of 47 days; a city surrounded 
by an army that neither permits any one to go 
into or come out of it; an army that slowly but 
surely is creeping up by its sap-rollers and ap- 
proaches, getting closer and closer each day? 
I said we did not let any one into the city and 
none to come out of it; still, notwithstanding 
all our watchfulness there were a few who suc- 
ceeded in getting through the lines, and a few 
that made the attempt but failed. Permit me 
to give one instance. In front of the line of the 
15th Illinois Kegiment, near the picket line, was 
a low marshy sink, of about an acre in size, cov- 
ered by brush and dense cane brakes. One night 
a boy of about 10 years of age came out of the 
brush towards the picket line, holding up his 
handkerchief as a sign that he wished to sur- 
render. The sentinel told him to come in; he 
did, and the little fellow told a pitiful story; 
that he had been in Vicksburg visiting his aunt 
who was sick; that his mother lived in Jack- 



VICKSBURQ 125 

son, and he wanted to go home. The story 
seemed plausible and he was allowed to go 
through the lines. Not long after, one night, 
the pickets in that same locality, heard a rus- 
tling in the bushes in the same swampy hole, 
and surmising that something was wrong, sur- 
rounded it, demanding the surrender of any one 
there on pain of being shot at once. To their 
surprise out came a half-dozen men, each with 
a bag over his shoulder containing 10,000 per- 
cussion caps. Gen. Johnston had sent the men 
and caps back, led by the same little boy, and 
they were trying to get into Vicksburg. They 
were marched to Gen. Grant's headquarters, 
and while waiting to be ushered into the Gen- 
eral's presence, one of the prisoners said to the 
boy: *^What do you suppose they will do with 
you, for you are the fellow that got us into this 
fixT' The little fellow, cocking one eye in a 
comical manner, replied: **0h, I guess they 
won't hurt me much, coz I'se so little." The 



126 VICKSBURG 

little fellow was not hurt much, but kept a pris- 
oner until the surrender and then with the sol- 
diers sent home. 

The siege continues day after day; the bom- 
bardment from land and water is incessant ; the 
beleaguered army is reduced to quarter rations, 
living on mule meat and thinking it good fare; 
the inhabitants of the city hiding and living in 
caves, to escape the storm of shells from the 
Union army and navy, which are exploding day 
and night in their streets. The enemy are brave 
and fight valiantly for their city and cause; 
neither the scorching sun nor the drenching rain 
keep them from their posts. They suffer for 
water ; they are pinched with hunger ; still they 
fight and hold the fort. However, the end is 
near. That persistency and determination, so 
characteristic of our commander. Gen. Grant, 
will surely win. It is related of Gen. Grant that 
one day during the siege he was riding around 
the lines, and stopped at a house to get some 



VICKSBURG 127 

water. The only occupant was a woman who 
tauntingly asked him if he expected to get into 
Vicksburg. ^ ^ Certainly, ' ^ he replied. **But 
when?'' she said. *^I cannot tell exactly when 
I shall take the town, but I mean to stay here 
till I do, if it takes me 30 years." The reply 
was too much for the old lady, and her heart 
sank within her, as she rushed back into the 
house to hide her anger. That reminds me of 
an incident that passed between Gen. Grant and 
myself, the relating of which I may be pardoned 
inasmuch as I am relating reminiscences. One 
hot day in June I was in the trenches with my 
company, behind the gabions, on duty as sharp- 
shooters, when Gen. Grant, attended by one of 
his staff, came along. He had climbed the hill 
and when he arrived opposite me w^as perspiring 
and puffing greatly. We turned and saluted the 
General as he walked along the trench. When 
he came opposite to me he said: ''Sergeant, is 
there any Avater convenient ? " I replied, * ' None, 



128 VICKSBURG 

General, except what is in my canteen/' and 
taking my canteen from my shoulder, half filled 
with pretty warm water, I handed it to him. 
He took it, offered it to the officer, who declined, 
and then Gen. Grant took a hearty drink from 
my canteen. He then handed it back, thank- 
ing me for it, and passed on. So in the words 
of Miles O'Reilly's poem — 

"There are bonds of all sorts in this world of ours, 
Fetters of friendship and ties of flowers, 

And true lovers' knots, I ween; 

The girl and the boy are bound by a kiss, 

But there's never a bond, old friend, like this — 

We have drank from the same canteen." 

Although we are relieved often in our daily 
duty of sharpshooters, and return to the ravines 
and hollows where we are bivouacked, still we 
are constantly threatened with death; the sol- 
diers wrote songs, and the jest went around, fun 
actually being coined from the danger which 
some comrade escaped, or attempted to nimbly 
dodge. There was no shirking or quailing; 
danger had long since ceased to cause any fear. 



VICKSBURG 129 

Exploding shells and whistling bullets attracted 
but little notice. Even death had become so 
familiar that the fall of a comrade was looked 
upon with almost stoical indifference; eliciting, 
perhaps, an expression of pity, and most gen- 
erally the remark: '^I wonder who will be the 
next onef Men are not naturally unmindful 
of danger, nor do their hearts usually exhibit 
such indifference to human agony and suffer- 
ing; yet the occurrence of daily scenes of hor- 
ror and bloodshed, through which they passed, 
the shadow of the angel of death constantly 
hovering over them, made them undisturbed 
spectators of every occurrence, making the most 
of today, heedless of the morrow. 



CHAPTER XI. 

Let us go back to the "White House'' and 
Fort Hill in our front. The Shirley or White 
House was not far from Fort Hill, and being 
on a hill overlooked much of the field of oper- 
ations, and was the frequent resort of Gen. 
Grant and other commanders during the siege. 
Several officers and men were shot in this 
house. A Lieutenant of Battery L went to 
Colonel Maltby of the 45th Illinois (whose camp 
was along the "White House") and asked per- 
mission to use a room in the house for making 
out the battery pay rolls. "Why, certainly," 
promptly answered Colonel Maltby, "walk 
right in; it's a splendid place. I was shot in 
the leg here yesterday." 

It is of peculiar interest to the writer, as he 
was wounded in this house while in the line of 
duty on July 2, 1863. Mr. Shirley and family 
were living in this house when on May 18, 1863, 

131 



132 VICKSBURG 

the skirmishers of the Union army advanced 
along the Jackson road, pressed back those of 
Pemberton's army into their main defensive 
line, so close at hand that the salient fort, known 
as Fort Hill to the Union army, but to the Con- 
federates known as the Third Louisiana Redan, 
nearly west of the house and immediately north 
of the road, was not over 350 yards distant. As 
the building was an obstruction to the fire from 
the Confederate line, it was to have been de- 
stroyed; but, according to the story of Mrs. Ea- 
ton, the presence of her mother delayed carry- 
ing the order into execution so long that the 
Confederate soldier who came to do so, while 
holding a ball of blazing cotton to the build- 
ing, fell under the fire of the advancing van- 
guard and was buried the next day upon the 
spot. As for Mrs. Shirley, she first had a sheet 
attached to a broomstick and hung from an up- 
per window, which gave some respite from the 
fire of the Union troops. But their line soon 



VICKSBURG 133 

reached the house itself and practically rested 
there, so that a steady firing upon it from the 
other side was inevitable. Notwithstanding 
this, Mrs. Shirley remained there for three 
days, much of the time sitting behind the large 
chimney for shelter. Having in the meantime 
learned of the situation of the Shirley's, orders 
came from Gen. McPherson for their removal. 
They went accordingly, into a shallow cave has- 
tily prepared in a nearby ravine. Here the 
family remained for a time, Mrs. Shirley hav- 
ing sickened from exposure and poor fare, but 
were soon after, by Gen. Grant's personal di- 
rection, removed to a plantation three miles in 
the rear, where a negro cabin afforded tem- 
porary shelter. The Shirley's were Union peo- 
ple, and Mr. Lossing, the historian, says : ^^That 
the accomplished daughter kept a diary during 
the siege, each day's record closing with the 
prediction that success would crown the efforts 
of the Union army." The wish was father to 



134 VICKSBURG 

the thought ; her patriotism was rewarded with 
the heart and hand of the gallant Gen. Eaton 
of the United States army, and they were mar- 
ried about the close of the war. They now re- 
side in Washington, and if the facts of their 
courtship and betrothal, conducted amidst the 
exciting scenes of a terrible siege, were known, 
it would no doubt be a very interesting romance. 
But what of the ladies who are in the besieged 
city? Many of them have left their fine man- 
sions and taken up their abode in the holes 
and caves of the hills in and around the city, 
and so universal was this mode of living that 
the city in its desolation looked like a ^^ prairie 
dog's village." One of the residents of the 
city afterwards said: ^^It got to be Sunday 
all the time; seven Sundays in the week to us 
anyway. We hadn't anything to do and the 
time hung heavy. Seven Sundays, and all of 
them broken up at one time or another in the 
day or in the night by a few hours of the awful 



VICKSBURG . 135 

stomi of fire and thunder and iron and lead.'' 
The caves were sometimes fearfully crowded, 
always hot and close. Oftentimes a cave had 
from twenty to twenty-five people packed in it ; 
no turning room for anybody, and the air so 
foul, sometimes, you could not have made a can- 
dle burn. A child was born in one of these caves 
one night during the siege. Generally, there 
is considerable noise around when a baby is 
bom, but this fellow was welcomed with the 
booming of cannon and the fierce shriek of the 
screaming shell. I'll warrant, if he was like 
most boys, he tried to make all the noise he 
could. But he is no longer a baby, at least let 
us hope he is not, for he is old enough now to 
be a man all through, being at this time over 
50 years of age. I have his picture and a fine- 
looking man he is. He writes on his picture: 
* ^I was born 12 feet under ground. ' ' One night 
a shell burst in front of one of these caves and 
stopped up the hole to such an extent the occu- 



136 VICKSBURG 

pants came near smothering, and for a time 
there was some lively scratching of dirt for a 
breathing hole. 

Fort Hill is said to be the key to Vicksburg. 
We have tried often to turn this key, and have 
as often failed — in fact, the lock is not an easy 
one, but We soon shall try the burglar's plan, 
and with the aid of powder blow the lock to 
^ * smithereens. " The sap or trench is run to 
the fort and the fort is mined, the boys dig- 
ging the dirt and carrying it out in boxes. Great 
holes are dug underneath the fort, and miners 
from the Lead Mine, 45th Illinois Eegiment, 
who understand tamping, have charged the 
2,200 pounds of powder, and all is ready to light 
the fuse. June, the 25th, a heavy artillery fire 
opened all along the line, and at 2 :30 p. m., the 
explosion takes place. Huge masses of earth 
were thrown in the air, and the ground was 
shaken as by an earthquake. As soon as the 
earth was rent, a bright glare of fire issued from 



VICKSBURG 137 

the burning powder, but quickly died away, as 
there was nothing combustible in the fort. A few 
Confederate soldiers were hurled into the air, 
one or two of whom came down inside our lines, 
and some were buried in the fort, as was proven 
a few years after the war, when the fort was 
dismantled and turned into a cotton field, a few 
skeletons were found buried underneath. One 
negro boy fell among the men of our company. 
He gathered himself together, and looked 
around as though he thought the day of judg- 
ment had surely come. One of our boys asked 
him how far up he thought he had gone, and he 
replied : ^ ' Don 't know, Massa ; 'bout free miles, 
I guess.'' He believed it, for I never saw such 
a frightened look on any one's face, and his 
eyes stood out and looked unnatural. When 
the smoke and dust had cleared away partly, a 
great saucer-shaped crater was seen, where be- 
fore was the A-shaped Fort Hill. It was large 
enough to hold about 60 or 80 men. The 23rd 



138 VICKSBURG 

Indiana and the 45th Illinois were in the 
trenches ready to charge; the command was 
given before the dust had fully settled ; the 23rd 
Indiana charging to the left of the crater to the 
top of the works ; the 45th Illinois up and into 
the crater. The enemy had come up behind 
the big pile of earth thrown out by the explosion, 
and as we went into the crater, they met us 
with a terrible volley of musketry, but on the 
boys went, up and over the embankment with a 
cheer, the enemy falling back a few paces to an 
inner or second line of breastworks, where are 
placed cannon loaded with grape and canister, 
and these cannon belched forth their death-deal- 
ing missiles, in addition to the heavy musketry 
fire, with such telling effect that many of the 
brave boys fall to rise no more ; the line wavers, 
staggers, and then falls back into the crater. 
The enemy charge on us, but we repel them at 
the west bank of the crater, and a hand-to-hand 
conflict rages for hours; hand grenades and 




Pit: 



VICKSBURG 139 

loaded shells are lighted and thrown over the 
parapet as you would play ball. These shells 
and hand grenades carry death, as many as a 
dozen men being killed and wounded at one ex- 
plosion. It seems to me, in looking back, a won- 
der that anyone in that hot place was left to tell 
the story. I have witnessed our men grab these 
shells, at the risk of their exploding, and fling 
them back. Many a brave hero laid down his 
life in that death hole, or, as we most appro- 
priately called it, ^^Fort Hell.'^ The Chicago 
Tribune had its correspondent in the field and, 
in the issues of that paper on July 3 and 6, 
1863, he speaks of the charge and fighting in 
the crater, saying: * * * *^A wide em- 
brasure in the embankment was made into 
which the noble Lead Mine Regiment, led by 
Colonel Maltby, rushed in and at once planted 
our banner amid a terrific fire from the enemy. 
The conduct of the 45th Illinois Eegiment was 
grand in the extreme. Universal commenda- 



140 VICKSBURG 

tion is bestowed for the gallant manner that 
regiment performed the duty assigned it, and 
in no small degree upon the field officers who so 
nobly inspired the men by taking the advance 
and marching up to the muzzles of the enemy's 
guns, so near that for a time it was a hand-to- 
hand fight. The colors of the regiment planted 
on the parapet of the fort are literally torn to 
pieces by the shots of the enemy. Two of the 
field officers, Lieut. Col. Smith and Major Fisk, 
are no more. Col. Maltby is still suffering from 
a severe wound. ' ' 

We fought at close range with the enemy over 
that embankment of earth, many of the men 
receiving bayonet wounds. A cypress log, with 
port holes cut on the under side, was brought 
into the crater, and in helping to place it on the 
parapet. Col. James A. Maltby was severely 
wounded by splinters from the log. A solid 
shot from a cannon hit the log, hurling it with 
terrific force against the Colonel and his small 



VICKSBUKG 141 

command. Gen. John A. Logan said of Col. 
Maltby, at the siege of Vicksburg : ^ ^ He is the 
bravest man I ever saw on the field of battle. ' ' 
He was in the Mexican War, badly wounded at 
Chapultepec, then at Fort Donelson in 1862 
and then at Vicksburg. He was justly promoted 
to be a Brigadier General for his bravery. A 
detail of about two companies would hold the 
crater for two hours or more, their rapid firing 
causing the rifles to become hot and foul, and 
the men w^eary and worn out, when two other 
companies would slip in and take their places. 
Badeau, in his history of Gen. Grant, says: 
** Details from Leggett's brigade relieved each 
other all night long, in their attempt to hold 
the crater. ' ' I want to correct his history and 
say, as I have a right to say, for I was there 
and speak from what I know to be the facts, 
it was no ^^ attempt,^' it was an accomplished 
fact that we held it, but to our great loss, until 
the order was received to give it up. What a 



142 VICKSBURG 

terrible sacrifice it was to hold that little piece 
of ground. It probably was all right to have 
made the charge into the crater after the explo- 
sion and try to make a breech inside the enemy's 
lines, but it surely was a serious mistake, either 
of Gren. Grant or Gen. McPherson, to cause that 
crater to be held for over 48 hours with the loss 
of brave men every hour. I remember, upon 
returning to the trenches, after having been re- 
lieved in the crater, of passing Gen. John A. 
Logan, surrounded by some of his aid-de-camp, 
and as they bore past him some wounded hero, 
he broke forth with vehemence, saying: ^^My 
God! they are killing my bravest men in that 
hole." Someone suggested that the place be 
given up. He said in reply : ^ ^ I can 't ; my com- 
manding officer orders me to hold every inch 
of ground.'' The crater was at last given up 
and we resumed the ordinary duties of every- 
day life in the trenches and in camp. 



CHAPTER XII. 

The army was without tents, yet very com- 
fortable. They were encamped along the steep 
hillside, mostly sheltered from the enemy's shot. 
A place was dug against the hill, and in many 
cases, into it, forming a sort of cave. Poles 
were put up and covered with oil cloths, blank- 
ets or cane rods, of which an abundant supply 
was near at hand. For fuel, the farm fences 
were laid under contribution, in some cases be- 
ing hauled for two or three miles. The work 
of slaughter and destruction went on day and 
night. The roar of cannon, the rattle of mus- 
ketry, the sharp crack of the rifle in the hands 
of the sharpshooters, reached the ear from all 
sides. There was no cessation, no let up. 

"Cannon to right of them; 
Cannon to left of them; 
Cannon in front of them; 
Volleyed and thundered." 

Stormed at with shot and shell, the beleaug- 
ered garrison and the inhabitants of Vicksburg 

143 



144 VICKSBURG 

must have felt, as surely as day follows night, 
that the end could not be much longer delayed. 
Mines and countermines were dug and sprung. 
Not a man in the trenches on either side could 
show his head above the breastworks without 
being picked off by the sharpshooters. A hat 
held out for two minutes at a port hole was rid- 
dled with minie-balls. Shells searched out all 
parts of the city, with direful results. Several 
women and children were killed and wounded 
during the siege. There were about 1,300 wo- 
men and children in the city during the bom- 
bardment, who, during the greater part of the 
time, had been obliged to live in caves, cut in 
the hard clay hills in the city, of which there 
were several hundred. At this day it may seem 
to some of my readers that it was cruel and in- 
human for the Union forces to fire on defense- 
less women and children, but what could we do ; 
they were in the city and preferred to remain 
there to cheer on their husbands and brothers 



VICKSBURG 145 

in their work of trying to destroy the Union. 
To show my readers with what feeling these 
Southern women showed their hatred of the 
North and the boys in blue, let me give a sim- 
ple extract from a letter written by a Southern 
wife to her husband in the Confederate army, 
which letter was captured near Vicksburg. 
Speaking of the Yankees she says: ^*If there 
is an hereafter, a heaven or hell, I pray to go 
to perdition ere my soul would be joined to rest 
in heaven with the fiendish foe. It would be 
some solace to us, when we love our husbands, 
fathers, sons and friends, to know they were 
fighting an enemy, civilized or refined in a great 
degree. But, oh! the thought is killing; is too 
painful, to see our men, the choicest, most re- 
fined specimens of God's work, destroyed and 
even forced to take up arms against the off- 
scourings, outcast dregs of creation, for every 
man they lose is a blessing, a Godsend to hu- 
manity and society.'' These are strong words, 



146 VICKSBUEG 

and a woman that could harbor such feelings 
would have the courage to stay in the doomed 
city and take her chances with her husband and 
friends. 

To offset this, let me tell you of a romance 
of the war, which has never been published, 
and was given me by Comrade Searles, late of 
Chicago. Gen. Elias R. Dennis, in command of 
a brigade of our troops during the siege, made 
his headquarters at a farm house (the home of 
a widow and family), occupying one portion of 
it. The General was very kind to the widow 
and orphans, often providing for them from his 
own means. One of these children, a bright, 
winsome little girl of some eight years, took a 
deep interest in all that transpired, remember- 
ing many events of those stirring times, but 
above all, retaining a most kindly recollection of 
the General who occupied the house. About 
twelve years ago a reunion of some old veterans 
was held at Vicksburg. Comrade Searles, of 



VICKSBURG 147 

Chicago, was there, and among the Southern la- 
dies who welcomed them was this little girl, now, 
of course, grown to womanhood. Accepting her 
kind invitation to visit her home, the next day- 
found our comrade in the same house where 
Gen. Dennis had made his headquarters during 
the siege. Naturally, the conversation turned 
to the days of 1863. The lady, recalling the 
many kindnesses of Gen. Dennis, inquired if he 
were alive, to which Comrade Searles replied: 
^^Why, bless you, I know him personally; he 
lives at Omaha.'' She then asked her comrade 
if he would be the bearer of a letter to the Gen- 
eral, and he replied, ^^Most gladly." In due 
time this was delivered. What its contents 
were, none save the writer and the General ever 
knew, but as he read the letter, his lips quiv- 
ered and his eyes filled with tears. The General 
was alone in the world, his wife and only daugh- 
ter having passed away. Soon after he jour- 
neyed south. We know not what the greeting 



148 VICKSBURG 

was; no doubt the lady awakened in the mind 
of the old veteran memories of his own lost, 
loved child, for shortly after this, he adopted 
the lady as his daughter. He lived the re- 
mainder of his days in Vicksburg, and but re- 
cently passed over to the eternal camping 
ground. When the General's will was proven, 
it was found that all his property had been left 
to his daughter of the Southland. 

Another romance that commenced shortly 
after the surrender of the city is worth record- 
ing. A Miss Mary E. Hurlburt, of Danbury, 
Conn., a Northern girl, was visiting at the Lunn 
Mansion in the city of Vicksburg at the out- 
break of the war, and tarrying too long, was 
compelled to remain there until the Union forces 
opened up the Mississippi Eiver. When Gen. 
Grant captured the city, the officers of those 
commanding the troops in the city domiciled 
themselves at different houses. Gen. Leggett 
and his staff located their headquarters at the 



VICKSBURG 149 

Lunn residence. Gen. John A. Eawlins, chief 
of Gen. Grant's staff, had occasion to visit the 
headquarters of Gen. Leggett and naturally met 
Miss Hurlburt and their acquaintance soon 
ripened into a love affair, which in a few months 
culminated in a wedding and the young lady 
became the wife of Gen. John A. Rawlins, and 
shared with him in all the honors conferred 
upon the General as the closest advisor of Gen. 
Grant, and afterwards as Secretary of War. 

The month of June, 1863, was rolling by and 
the glorious 4th of July drew near. The Union 
lines were getting closer and closer, and the 
question was passed around among the boys, 
* * Shall we spend the Fourth in Vicksburg or in 
the trenches r' On June 28, the Confederates 
threw over to our men a small biscuit made of 
corn meal and peas. To this was attached a 
very small piece of meat and a note stating that 
it was one day's rations. The note Went on: 
**We are pretty hungry and dreadful dry. Old 



150 VICKSBURG 

Pemberton has taken all the whisky for the hos- 
pitals and our Southern Confederacy is so small 
just now that we are not in the manufacturing 
business. Give our compliments to Gen. Grant 
and say to him that grub would be acceptable, 
but we will feel under particular obligations to 
him if he will send us a few bottles of good 
whisky. ' ' 

Shall I give you the experience of a wounded 
soldier? Towards the close of the siege, while 
in the line of duty, a minie-ball from a Con- 
federate sharpshooter went crashing through 
his right lung. His comrades bore him back a 
short distance; the surgeon came and seeing 
where the soldier had been shot, shook his head 
and said, ' ' he cannot live. ' ' Comrades gathered 
around, saying in undertones, *'poor fellow, he's 
got his discharge. ' ' The soldier closed his eyes, 
and although gasping for breath, as the warm 
life blood flowed from his wound and gushed 
from his mouth, saw something — his past life 



VICKSBURG 151 

came before him like a living panorama; the 
good deeds and the evil of his life appeared in 
a few moments; he thought he was soon to be 
ushered into eternity, and how would it stand 
with him there. He breathed one little prayer : 
^^0, Lord, spare my life and I will serve thee 
all my days.'' Presently the ambulance came 
and he was lifted tenderly into it, to be con- 
veyed two miles to the rear to the brush hos- 
pital. The boys said ' ' good bye. ' ' He was but 
a youth, not twenty years of age ; had been pro- 
moted to First Sergeant after the battle of Shi- 
loh and had endeared himself to all in his com- 
pany, many of whom were old enough to be his 
father. Louis LaBrush, a Sergeant of the com- 
pany, a Frenchman by birth, but a true lover 
of his adopted country, loved this smooth-faced 
boy, so badly wounded, and begged permission 
of the Captain to go with the wounded sol- 
dier and watch over him. The Captain, see- 
ing the yearning look in the eyes of the Ser- 



152 VICKSBURG 

geant, granted permission, and the ambulance 
started with the old Sergeant watching with 
a tender care over the little Orderly Ser- 
geant pillowed on his knee. The sun was 
just sinking to rest when they reached the hos- 
pital, which was only a brush shed covered 
with branches from the trees, in which were 
long lines of cots upon which the wounded 
soldiers lay. As the ambulance drew near 
the surgeon in charge came out, and look- 
ing at the wounded man, said: **Put him out 
there under that tree; he'll die tonight," and 
the old Sergeant put his darling boy out under 
the tree, laying him tenderly on the ground. 
The Sergeant and another comrade of his com- 
pany, Henry Winter, who was a nurse in the 
hospital, watched by the boy's side during the 
weary hours of the night. At midnight, as the 
doctor was making his rounds, he observed the 
Sergeant still under the tree, and went to see 
if the boy was yet living. Finding that he was, 



VICKSBURG 153 

he then made an examination by probing with 
his fingers into the wounds. The splintered 
bones pierced the tender flesh and made the boy 
writhe in pain, although the only protest was 
the gritting of his teeth. To cause his boy such 
suffering, after the treatment he had received, 
was more than the old Frenchman could stand, 
and he burst forth in a volley of oaths, com- 
manding the doctor to take his hands off im- 
mediately or he would kill him, saying, ^^If he 
is going to die, let him die in peace; you shall 
not kill him." Seeing the fire in the old Ser- 
geant's eyes, the doctor went away, muttering, 
**Well, the boy will die any*way." I want to 
say right here, that as a rule our surgeons were 
men of sympathy and did all they could for the 
soldiers. The example I speak of is one of the 
exceptions. The next morning the surgeon did 
not come, but sent word that if the soldier under 
the tree was still alive, to dress his wound, give 
him clean clothing and place him on a cot in 



154 VICKSBURG 

the hospital. He was alive and that boy recov- 
ered, even after the surgeon in the army and 
the doctors at home said he couldn't live. That 
wounded boy lives today and is able to write this 
book in the year 1915, and he is ever grateful 
in remembrance of the old French Sergeant and 
Comrade Henry Winter, whose tender care 
aided in saving his life. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

The trite saying of Gen. Sherman that **war 
is heir' cannot be fully appreciated by the peo- 
ple of this generation ; only those who have been 
through the horrors of war on the battle field 
and in the hospitals, can fully realize the hor- 
rors of war. Let me tell you how one brave man 
of my company lost his life through the most 
reckless foolishness. One day during the siege 
he succeeded in procuring some whisky from 
some unknown source and drank enough of it 
to make him half drunk. While in this condi- 
tion he took it into his head to go out in the 
open and march out towards Fort Hill, and find- 
ing something of interest in the open field, he 
brought it to camp and boasted to the boys 
where he got it. Some one went and reported 

to the First Sergeant that E was drunk 

and had said that he was going to walk right 

up on top of Fort Hill. The Sergeant detailed 

155 / 



156 VICKSBURG 

a Corporal to watch E and keep him in 

camp, but the soldier having enough whisky in 
him to make him reckless and without reason 
or sense, escaped his watch and went boldly up 
to Fort Hill and climbed the fort, but when on 
top a bullet from the enemy laid him low. As 
we boys got the body of our comrade that night 
and buried it, we could not help but say, that 

if poor E had let the accursed whisky 

alone he would have been living, and we then 
declared that liquor was a greater enemy than 
the men who opposed us with their muskets. 

On the 3rd day of July, 1863, a white flag 
was seen, nearly opposite to the *^ White 
House. '^ Firing ceased in that vicinity and 
presently several Confederate officers ap- 
proached our lines to confer with Gen. Grant. 
The General declined meeting them, but sent 
word he would meet Gen. Pemberton at 3 o 'clock 
in front of Gen. McPherson's lines. Soon after 
Gen. Pemberton came out and met Gen. Grant 



VICKSBURG 157 

under a big tree, about midway between the two 
lines, where they had a conference as to the sur- 
render of Vicksburg, *^The Gibralter of Amer- 
ica." After a talk of an hour, possibly, Gen. 
Pemberton returned inside the fortifications, 
and then after correspondence lasting until the 
next day, terms of surrender were finally agreed 
upon, and on Saturday, July 4, 1863, the anni- 
versary of American Independence, the garri- 
son of Vicksburg marched oat of the works it 
had defended so long, and stacking their arms, 
hung their colors on the center, laid off their 
knapsacks, belts and cartridge boxes, and thus 
shorn of the accoutrements of the soldier, 
marched down the road into the city. They went 
through the ceremony with that downcast look, 
so touching on a soldier's face. Not a word 
was spoken, save the few words of command 
necessary to be given by their officers, and these 
were given in a subdued manner. What an 
army it was — 30,000 men and 172 cannon. Gen. 



158 VICKSBURG 

J. B. McPherson, commanding the 17th Army 
Corps, addressed a letter to Col. Eawlins, chief 
of staff to Gen. Grant, saying, *'If one regi- 
ment goes in advance to the court house to take 
possession, I respectfully request that it be the 
45th Illinois. This regiment has borne the 
brunt of the battle oftener than any other in 
my command and always nobly." Col. Rawlins 
endorsed this letter, stating that it was left to 
Gen. McPherson to designate such regiment as 
he saw proper to go forward and take posses- 
sion of the court house. Gen. McPherson then 
sent a letter to Gen. John A. Logan, command- 
ing the third division : ^ ' I suggest that the 45th 
Illinois take the advance in going into the city. ' ' 
Now the boys in blue take up their line of march 
into the city. Gen. Badeau, in his history of 
Gen. Grant says: ** Logan's division Hvas one 
of those which had approached nearest the 
works, and now was the first to enter the town. 
It had been heavily engaged in both assaults 



VICKSBURG 159 

and was fairly entitled to this honor. The 45th 
Illinois Infantry marched at the head of the 
line and placed its battle-torn flag on the court 
house in Vicksburg. Gen. Grant and Gen. Lo- 
gan rode into the town at the head of Logan ^s 
division. ' ' 

When inside the works, and in the city, the 
men of the Uvo armies affiliated at once. Groups 
of Union and Confederate soldiers could be seen 
wherever there was a shady place; the Union 
soldier pumping the rebel and giving him in re- 
turn for the information hard tack and bacon, 
which the poor famished fellows accepted with 
a grateful look. The Confederates reclined on 
the grass and while munching their hard tack, 
tell what they ^^ reckon^' is their loss; how long 
they ^'allowed'' to hold out; how our sharp- 
shooters killed ' ^ right smart ' ' of their men and 
they wish ^Sve'uns" and ^'you'uns^' could have 
this war ended and all live together in peace. 
Many of the Union and Confederate soldiers 



160 VICKSBURG 

were seen walking arm in arm; they felt they 
were countrymen. Five days' rations were is- 
sued to the prisoners, consisting of bacon, 
hominy, peas, coffee, sugar, soap, salt and 
crackers. 

Here is what one of the Confederates wrote 
about it: ''How the famished troops enjoyed 
such bounteous supplies, it is needless to state. 
For once the brave boys were now objects of 
their enemy's charity. They grew jovial and 
hilarious over the change in their condition. 
The Yankees came freely among them and were 
unusually kind. They asked innumerable ques- 
aions and were horrified at the fact of the men 
eating mules and rats.'' After feeding and 
paroling this large army of men, for it took 
several days to parole them, they silently and 
sadly marched out and off to their homes, while 
the boys in blue and the people of the North 
were full of rejoicing. Here is a few lines, com- 



VICKSBURG 161 

posed by one of the boys in blue at the time : 

"The armies of the Union 

'Round Vicksburg long had lain, 
For forty-seven days and nights, 

Besieging it in vain. 
Then came the morning of the Fourth, 

Our nation's jubilee. 
Ah, could the news this hour go forth, 

In Vicksburg soon we'll be. 
The siege is done, the struggle past. 

On this eventful day; 
Glad tidings crown us as at last 

Our thanks to God we pay." 

Yes, Old Glory floated over Vicksburg on July 
4, 1863, and what rejoicing there was through- 
out the North when the news came ^o your 
homes that Vicksburg had fallen. Yes, Old 
Glory still floats there, and may we earnestly 
hope it will continue to wave as long as the city 
remains. We can rejoice today that we live to 
see a reunited people with one country and one 
flag. But while rejoicing, let us not forget those 
who have died on fields of honor, and while the 
years glide on, let the dead of Raymond, Cham- 
pion Hills and Vicksburg never be forgotten. 
Let us think of them as standing guard over 



162 VICKSBURG 

our dearly won prize, until the bugle sounds 
for silence, while the angel calls the roll. The 
third largest national cemetery in the United 
States is located at Vicksburg. Each of the 
small head stones marks the resting place of a 
hero. Seventeen thousand Union soldiers are 
buried in the 50 acres in this consecrated spot, 
of which 12,957 have the simple inscription, 
* ' Unknown, ' ' marked on their head stones. But 
they are not unknown to Him who cares for all. 
He takes cognizance of the heroes who fell fight- 
ing for their country and for freedom. Al- 
though their names are missing from the roster 
of the city where their ashes lie, still the great 
Jehovah keeps the record of the brave, and He 
will reward them in His own good time. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

At the request of Captain W. T. Rigby, 
Chairman of the National Military Park Com- 
mission of Vicksburg, to visit that place for 
the purpose of locating the positions held by 
my regiment during the siege in 1863, 1 did visit 
Vicksburg, Miss., in August, 1902. 

I found the weather very hot, 99 degrees in 
the shade. However, it was not as hot as it 
was when we were in that ^^ crater'^ at Fort Hill, 
years ago. The people of Vicksburg greeted 
me with a glad hand. The contrast of long- 
ago was striking. About the first man I met 
was an old grizzled veteran wearing the Con- 
federate button and, seeing my G. A. R. button, 
he came up, and, extending his hand, greeted 
me: ^'How are you, comrade; we wear differ- 
ent buttons, but we are brothers;^' and I shook 
his hand heartily and we had a pleasant chat 

163 



164 VICKSBURG 

of the siege. Then, we were shooting minie- 
balls at each other; now, our shots were story 
and laughter. 

Captain Eigby drove me out to the Federal 
and Confederate lines. Many changes have 
taken place. Some few of the trenches and 
breastworks remain, but many have been 
smoothed off for the plow. As we drove to the 
spot where we camped, near the old ^* Shirley 
House," I said to myself, ^^Am I dreaming?" 
Can it be that this quiet, deserted place, over- 
grown with weeds and bushes, with no sound 
save the sweet songs of the birds in the trees 
is the same spot where, in the summer of 1863, 
so much life and action was seen each day; and 
where, instead of the music of the birds, it was 
the music of the whizzing minie-ball or the 
shrieking shell. In thought I went back to 
those days of noise and blood, and I involun- 
tarily looked over to Fort Hill to see if the Con- 
federate stronghold was still there, and listened 
to hear the sharp crack of the sharpshooter ^s 



VICKSBURG 165 

rifle from the trenches, but all is quiet and 
hushed. I am soothed by the stillness, the quiet 
and peace that pervades these hills and ravines, 
and I wander in memory's hall of the long ago, 
when I am brought back to the present by Cap- 
tain Rigby, with: ^'Now, Crummer, you must 
locate the position of the camp of your regi- 
ment during the siege. ' ' This I proceeded to do, 
having no difficulty, for the ^^ Shirley House" 
is still there, although tumbling down and go- 
ing to ruin. Thanks to the Illinois Commis- 
sion, headed by Gen. John C. Black and others. 
Congress has made an appropriation to have 
the "Shirley House'' restored to its former 
state. This house will be remembered for its 
prominence during the siege as a place of ob- 
servation by general officers and as headquar- 
ters of the 45th Illinois. Quite a number of 
officers and soldiers were shot in this house by 
the Confederate sharpshooters. 

I wandered through its ruins and you cannot 
imagine my feelings as I stepped into the north- 



166 VICKSBURG 

west room and stood on the identical spot 
where on July 2, 1863, in the afternoon, while 
writing out an ordinance report, a Confeder- 
ate sharpshooter sent a minie-ball through my 
right lung. 

I placed marker 403 as the center of our camp 
and No. 484 marks the right of the camp of the 
45th Regiment. This done, we approached Fort 
Hill on the Jackson road, and although the in- 
trenchments and forts have been generally lev- 
eled off for agricultural purposes, changing the 
face of the hills, yet there is enough left to show 
where the main lines were. No. 489 marks the 
point where Major L. H. Cowen, 45th Illinois, 
was killed in the assault on the afternoon of 
May 22, 1863. The charge was made by the regi- 
ment, by right, in front. Major Cowen and 
myself were in the lead and running together 
when he fell. Being Orderly Sergeant of Co. A, 
it was my duty to be there. 

No. 488 marks the center of the line of the 
45th Illinois at the time of its closest approach 



VICKSBURG 167 

to the Confederate line in the assault of May 
22, 1863. 

While walking over this ground I remem- 
bered how close we hugged that sloping hill, 
lying there in the scorching sun, with no chance 
to return the withering fire of the enemy. 

Captain Rigby then asked me if I could lo- 
cate the ^^ crater'' and Gen. Logan's line of ap- 
proach to it. I walked over the hill, groping 
my way through the tall weeds and under- 
growth, and, coming back to the captain, re- 
ported, by saying, ^'I can." *^Good," he said; 
'^you may drive the markers." I then drove 
marker No. 487 at the center of the west line of 
the crater made by the explosion under the 3rd 
Louisiana Redan (we called it Fort Hill) June 
25, 1863. It may be questioned why I could be 
so certain about the location of the ''crater," 
in as much as the fort had been completely de- 
molished. My principal reason is this: Ser- 
geant Esping, of our regiment, who fell in the 
''crater," pierced by a ball through his brain, 



168 VICKSBURG 

was by my side at the time. We were together 
in the northwest corner of the * ^ crater ' ' and we 
had a splendid chance of doing good work, by 
looking off down the ridge to the right and 
northwest from the ^^ crater/' and firing on 
the Confederates in the trenches. Those old 
trenches where the Confederates were on June 
25, 1863, are still there, so in walking over the 
hill and getting the right angle to those 
trenches, I was able to locate the ' ' crater. ' ' 

Markers Nos. 485 and 486 indicate the line 
of Logan's sap, or approach, to Fort Hill, com- 
mencing at the Jackson road. Captain Rigby 
thanked me heartily for my services of the day. 

The 45th Illinois Infantry bore an honorable 
part in the siege, as the official records show. 

The report of our Brigade Commander, Gen. 
M. B. Leggett, published in the official records 
at Washington, under date of July 6, 1863, rela- 
tive to the charge and fighting in the ^ ^ crater, ' ' 
is interesting and tends to corroborate the writ- 
er's statements. 



VICKSBURG 169 

* * * ^^At3:30p.m. of June25, 1863, my 
command was in readiness, the 45th Illinois be- 
ing the first, supported by the other regiments 
of the brigade and Lieut. H. C. Foster of the 
23rd Indiana, with 100 men, being placed in the 
left hand sap, Avith orders to charge with the 
45tli Illinois, provided they attempted to cross 
the enemy's works. At 4:30 o'clock the mine 
was sprung and before the dirt and smoke was 
cleared away the 45th Illinois had filled the gap 
made by the explosion and were pouring deadly 
volleys into the enemy. As soon as possible 
loop-hole timber was placed upon the works for 
the sharpshooters, but the enemy opened a piece 
of artillery at very close range on that point 
and the splintering timbers killed and wounded 
more men than did balls, and I ordered the tim- 
bers to be removed. Hand grenades were then 
freely used by the enemy, which made sad havoc 
amongst my men, for, being in the crater of the 
exploded mine, the sides of which were covered 
by the men, scarcely a grenade was thrown 
without doing damage, and in most instances 
horribly mangling those they happened to 
strike. The 45th Illinois, after holding the po- 
sition and fighting desperately until their guns 
were too hot for further use, were relieved by 
the 20tli Illinois. The 2Dth Illinois was relieved 
by the 31st Illinois and they in turn by the 56th 
Illinois, but, their ammunition being bad, they 
were unable to hold the position and were re- 
lieved by the 23rd Indiana; the 17th Iowa then 
relieving the 23rd Indiana, and the 31st Illinois 
relieving them, held the position until daylight, 



170 VICKSBURG 

when the 45th Illinois relieved them and held 
the position until 10:00 a. m. of the 26th; the 
124th Illinois then relieved the 45th Illinois and 
held the position until 5:00 p.m., when I received 
orders to withdraw to the left hand gap, where 
I maintained the position until the surrender 
on July 4th, when, by order of Major General 
Logan, my brigade led by the 45th Illinois, was 
honored with the privilege of being the first to 
enter the garrison, and the flag of the 45th Illi- 
nois the first to float over the conquered city.'' 

The National Park Commission are doing 
a noble work. Capt. Rigby is the right man 
in the right place and with a corps of engi- 
neers is working day and night to make a beau- 
tiful park for the delight of the people that come 
after us. The state of Iowa has done the noble 
thing in appropriating $150,000 to place monu- 
ments in the park on the spot which the differ- 
ent Iowa regiments occupied during the siege. 
The Illinois legislature has also made an appro- 
priation of $250,000 for monuments for the 78 
different organizations engaged in that mem- 
orable siege. When the memorial tablets from 
the different states shall have been placed and 



VICKSBURG 171 

the park fully laid out and completed, it will 
be one of the notable historic battle fields of the 
Union, and one which we of the North will oc- 
casionally visit with great interest. And now 
I close my sketch with this prayer: that war 
may never come to our fair land again, but that 
blessed peace, prosperity and righteousness 
may ever be our heritage. 





» 


\ 


w^- , 


1 ! 


g 


d 


m 



GENERAL U. S. GRANT 

From a photograph taken in Galena, Illinois, at the cl 



of the Civil War. 



GENERAL U. S. GRANT 

CHAPTER XV. 

AN APPRECIATION. 

My closing chapter will be about our great 
commander, General Ulysses S. Grant, giving 
a few personal incidents of Ms life. 

Orators, authors and statesmen have spoken 
and written of the great General so much it 
would seem as though there Was nothing more 
could be said. However, as one who followed 
him through numerous battles during the Civil 
War, and who, at the close of the war, became 
a resident of Galena, HI., and became person- 
ally acquainted with, and attended the same 
church as the General, I feel I have the right 
to note down, before the bugle sounds taps, a 
few words of appreciation of the man I knew. 

For four years, just after the close of the 
war, I was in the employ of Col. W. R. Rowley, 

173 



174 GENERAL U. S. GRANT 

who was then Clerk of the Circuit Court of Jo 
Daviess County, 111., and who had been one 
of the close family staff of General Grant during 
the early part of the war. 

General John A. Eawlins and Colonel Row- 
ley were neighbors of the General before the 
war and knew him well and intimately, and it 
is believed by the citizens of Galena, and known 
by many prominent men in the army, that these 
two men had more to do in helping and advis- 
ing General Grant during the early part of the 
war, and, indeed, all through the war, so far 
as General Rawlins is concerned, than any of 
his Generals or friends in Congress or out of it. 

Colonel Rowley and myself naturally had 
many conversations over the incidents of cer- 
tain battles and about General Grant. 

During the war and after, the enemies of 
Grant circulated many stories about his being 
drunk on this and that occasion. 

If I wanted to stir Colonel Rowley up to a 



GENEKAL U. S. GKANT 175 

fighting mood, and hear him use a ^^big, big D" 
(for he could use them occasionally), I would 
ask him: ^^ Colonel, how about this new 
yarn of Grant 's being drunk at Shiloh when the 
battle commenced!'' The question was the 
spark that exploded the magazine of wrath and 
the Colonel would reply: ^^All a d — d lie. 
Wasn't I there with him all the time; don't I 
know. When will all the d — d liars get through 
telling their d — d lies about Grant. ' ' And then 
I would chuckle to myself and say: *' Them's 
my sentiments, too." 

It has been said of General John A. Eawlins 
(chief of General Grant's staff), and, I believe, 
it must be true, for Colonel Rowley once told 
me it was ; that when Rawlins got mad he could 
use more ^^cuss words" than any man in 
the army. General Grant never used **cuss 
words," but he loved these two men, notwith- 
standing their habit of emphasizing their re- 
marks sometimes with a big D. 



176 GENERAL U. S. GRANT 

Grant loved his friends and was always true 
to them. Grant wouldn't lie; even in small 
matters he insisted that the truth should be 
spoken. It is related of him that, after he be- 
came President and while one day he was busy 
with his cabinet, some one called to see the 
President. One of the cabinet officers directed 
the servant to say to the caller that the Presi- 
dent was not in. ''No,'' said the General; "tell 
him no such thing. I don't lie myself and I 
don't want my servants to lie for me." 

A great man who was associated with him 
in public life has said of him: "He was the 
most absolutely truthful man I ever met in all 
my experiences." Another man who knew him 
well said of General Grant: "He hated two 
classes of men — liars and cowards." 

General Grant never aspired to political 
office, although urged by his friends to do so. 
Just after the fall of Vicksburg some of the 
leading citizens of Galena visited him at that 



GENERAL U. S. GRANT 177 

place. One day, in a general conversation, one 
of them asked what office he would like to have 
after the war was over. He replied that there 
was one office he would like to have when he 
returned to Galena. His friends pledged him 
their best endeavors in aiding him for what- 
ever he might seek, and, being pressed to name 
the office. Grant said: *^I would like to be 
alderman from my ward long enough to have 
a sidewalk built to my residence.'' Of course, 
there was a laugh and the matter was dropped. 
Upon his first visit to his old home at Galena, 
at the close of the war, the little city of many 
hills got up a reception upon a grand scale for 
its hero. The city was smothered with flags 
and decorations; the streets arched with flags 
and words of welcome. When the General ar- 
rived amid the booming of cannon and the 
huzzas of the people, he was hurriedly lifted 
into a barouche and started up the street at the 
head of a long procession. The first arch he met 



178 GENERAL U. S. GRANT 

had in large letters : ^ ' General, the sidewalk is 
built.'' The General laughed and remarked: 
^*I see my friends remembered I wanted to be 
alderman. ' ' 

After his first nomination for the Presidency 
he was with us at Galena during the campaign, 
and had you seen the General moving around 
so quietly and unostentatiously among his 
neighbors and friends, you would have won- 
dered that it could be the man who had just 
been declared the greatest military hero of the 
age, and that he was soon to be at the head of 
the nation. 

His record as President for eight years, and 
the honored guest of all nations during his 
tour around the world, is an open history to all. 

Upon his return from his trip 'round the 
world, the General and family took up their 
abode in Galena. The city again welcomed its 
hero to his old home amid the plaudits of thou- 
sands that came from near and far to tread its 



GENERAL U. S. GRANT 179 

stony streets and pay their tribute of respect 
and honor to the modest, silent man known 
the world over. I think the General was more 
stirred to the heart with the kind tokens of love 
and friendship and honor which his old neigh- 
bors and citizens of Galena showered upon him 
than he was from all the attentions of nobility 
the world 'round. 

General Grant's home life and his life among 
the people of Galena, even after the world had 
acclaimed him the greatest General of the 
ages, and honors had been showered upon him 
by the crowned heads of the world, was that 
of a quiet, unobtrusive, simple life like his 
neighbors and citizens. 

We loved him as a neighbor and citizen. We 
said among ourselves: ^^ Grant's head is the 
same size it was before the war. ' ' 
. He has been called the ''silent man." Yes, 
he was rather guarded in his talks among men 
generally, but I want to say (for I have list- 



180 GENERAL U. S. GRANT 

ened to him), that when among his friends and 
neighbors, if you could get him started, he was 
one of the most entertaining talkers I ever list- 
ened to. 

During the month of June, 1880, while the 
Kepublican Convention was in session in Chi- 
cago, General Grant and family were living in 
Galena. He had held the Presidency two terms ; 
he had also been 'round the world, feted and 
honored everywhere by kings and emperors, 
and now he had returned to the hills of old 
Galena to spend his days in rest and quiet; but 
his friends, who believed in him, urged him to 
again stand for the nomination for the Presi- 
dency. His friends of Galena, 111., knew what 
his personal wishes were; he did not wish to 
again resume the burdens of office. However, 
according to the request of his family, especially 
his wife, and also to his political friends, he 
finally consented to make the run. You will re- 
member what a fight there was in the conven- 



GENERAL U. S. GRANT 181 

tion — how the immortal 300, led by Koscoe 
Conkling, clung to the silent hero to the last. 

While the Convention was in progress, each 
day the General came down town about 10 
o'clock and spent an hour or two with his old 
friend and comrade, Colonel W. R. Eowley. 
Rowley was then Judge of the County Court, 
and I was clerk of the same court. Some of 
the friends were privileged to be there. I re- 
member distinctly that all of us were intensely 
interested in every telegram that came to the 
office, but the General paid very little atten- 
tion to them. He kept us entertained with most 
vivid recitals of what he had seen and heard in 
his travels 'round the world. 

There was one man's name before the Con- 
vention who had a few votes as nominee for 
President. This man had been a trusted friend 
of General Grant in former years, but his ac- 
tions had caused many of the General's friends 
to doubt his friendship. One afternoon, while 



182 GEITERAL U. S. GRANT 

we were in General Rowley's office, a telegram 
came that convinced Eowley and the friends 
that this man, while pretending undying friend- 
ship for the General, was playing him false. 
Rowley and others were outspoken in their de- 
nunciation of the course of this man who had 
helped Grant in former years and who Grant 
had helped so much in the past. The General 
was as calm and placid as though everything 
was lovely, his only remark being: ^'He was 
my friend when I needed friends, if I can't 
trust him, I can't trust anybody." The friend 
referred to was Hon. E. B. Washburne. 

Hon. Roscoe Conkling said of General Grant : 
^^ Standing on the highest eminence of human 
distinction, modest, firm, self poised, having 
filled all lands with his renown, he has seen 
not only the high born and the titled, but the 
poor and lowly in the uttermost parts of the 
earth rise and uncover before him. The name 
of Grant shall glitter a bright and imperish- 



GENERAL U. S. GRANT 183 

able star in the diadem of the Republic when 
those who have tried to tarnish it are molder- 
ing in forgotten graves and when their names 
and epitaphs have tarnished utterly/' 

This is a noble tribute of one great man for 
another; but we, his humble neighbors of Ga- 
lena, 111., who knew the General so well, love to 
thirds of the home life of this great man. One 
characteristic of his life is not generally known, 
and I make bold to set it down in type that all 
the world may know it. General Grant was a 
lover of his wife all through his married life. 
A little secret of the home life of this devoted 
man was known among the women of Galena, 
for they would tell their husbands what a lover 
General Grant was, and to prove it they would 
tell us that the General laced his wife's shoes 
for her. 

While General Grant and Mrs. Grant were 
in Europe they paid a visit to the tomb of Fer- 
dinand and Isabella. The thought of the ashes 



184 GENEBAL U. S. GRANT 

of the royal couple sleeping side by side 
through the centuries appealed to the devoted 
husband, and, turning to his wife, he said: 
* ' Julia, that is the way we should lie in death. ' ' 
So, when the Great General died" they found a 
memorandum left by him as to his last resting 
place. First, he preferred West Point above 
others, but for the fact that his Nvife could not 
be placed beside him there. Second, Galena, or 
some place in Illinois. Third, New York ; hence 
it is that in the beautiful tomb at Eiverside, the 
resting place of the General, there is room for 
the ashes of Mrs. Grant. 

After General U. S. Grant had answered the 
last roll call at Mount McGregor, in 1885, and 
the sad news came to his friends and neigh- 
bors of his former home, among the hills of the 
quaint old city of Galena, 111., preparations 
were made to have a memorial service in the 
Methodist Church, where he had worshiped be- 
fore and after the war. The church was 



GENERAL U. S. GRANT 185 

draped in mourning. In front of the pulpit was 
a stand of pure white flowers, with the intials, 
U. S. G., in purple floWers. 

The pew formerly occupied by the General 
when here was covered with the United States 
flag, tastefully draped. The house was filled 
with his friends and neighbors, and a feeling 
of personal loss was felt by all. The services 
were simple but beautiful. Several of his per- 
sonal friends spoke feelingly of the Great Gen- 
eral's life, among them the writer, and I am 
persuaded to close this appreciation by quot- 
ing my tribute given in 1885, in Galena, upon 
that occasion: 

*^The years glide swiftly by, the gray hairs 
come creeping on, and we boys of the army of 
twenty years ago are no longer boys, but men, 
whose numbers lessen each day as the months 
roll by. 

Twenty-four years have passed since we 
donned the blue and marched down the streets 



186 GENERAL U. S. GRANT 

and off to war. The forms and faces and events 
of those times at this distance seem unreal an?f 
shadowy, like the remembrance of a dream, and 
yet today, in the midst of the great sorrow that 
hangs over the land over the fall of our great 
cheiftain, we are again reminded of the wav- 
ing flags and fluttering scarfs, the inspiring 
strains of martial music, the shrill notes of fife 
and drum, and the booming of cannon. We 
are today again reminded (for the death of our 
hero brings to us vividly the past days in which 
he took so great a part). I say, again are we 
reminded of the tears and prayers and prom- 
ises — the music of soft voices and gentle words, 
the brave words spoken by mothers, sisters, 
sweethearts, the parting words, the last good- 
bye. We cannot forget, nay, we live over again 
the battles of Donelson, Shiloh, Corinth, Vicks- 
burg and other victorious battlefields following 
our hero, whose memory we are tonight to cher- 
ish and revere. 



GENERAL U. S. GRANT 187 

**A11 these dear and sacred memories of 
those stirring times come wafted to us today 
like the weird airs of an ^^olian harp swept by 
unknown winds, and the ear is touched, and 
through the brain, nerve and soul, and our 
hearts beat in sympathy and unison. 

^^So, tonight, as a nation mourns the fall of 
the Great Commander, we boys of the twenty- 
four years ago are more than privileged to add 
our tears of sorrow as we follow in spirit our 
hero to his last resting place. 

^*We boys loved him. Often he led us amidst 
the storm of shot and shell and where death 
faced us on every hand; but we soon learned 
that although it meant hard fighting to follow 
General Grant, yet it always promised victory, 
and that gave us inspiration to fight harder. 

** General Grant was a man of transcendent 
military ability. In the book of fate it was 
written: *He shall be a chief and a captain.' 
But above all he was a manly and a pure man. 



188 GENERAL U. S. GRANT 

He was tender and trusty and true. 
'^ *The bravest are the tenderest, 
The loving are the daring.' 

**I always admired the humble side of his 
character. I think humility was one of his finest 
traits; although feted and honored as no man 
of this continent ever has been, he never for a 
moment showed any signs of realizing his great- 
ness, or evincing a desire to count the honors 
conferred. Eetiring in disposition, yet bold and 
brave to act when necessity demanded it, I 
speak of him in loving memory. You all knew 
him here in his former home, and who with him 
have worshiped of times in this church, and you 
all know that he was the bravest of the brave 
and the truest of the true. 
** *His mein, his speech, "were sweetly simple; 

But when the matter matched his mighty 
mind. 

Up rose the hero ; on his piercing eye 



GENERAL U. S. GRANT 189 

Sat observation; on each glance of thought, 

Decision followed. ' 

^^As the day came, so duty appeared, and the 
brave old General took it up and did it earn- 
estly and well. 

**How well great battles and campaigns were 
planned and fought ; how safely and wisely he 
guided the ship of state; how modestly he re- 
ceived honors of the world from crowned heads ; 
how gladly he returned to the walks of a hum- 
ble citizen; how bravely and patiently he suf- 
fered through his terrible affliction — are they 
not all known to us, and are they not written 
upon the pages of history for our children's 
children to read and study? 

*'Is it weak, that we who followed the ever- 
victorious flag of our great Commander, and 
who with him stood in trying places against 
evil and treason, should drop our tears upon 
the fallen form of him whom we loved? Nay, 
but let them fall, they but speak in louder tones 



190 GENEKAL U. S. GRANT 

than words can, of the love and regard we had 
for him, who, as the years roll by, will be hon- 
ored and extolled as one of the greatest of all 
nations. 

** Around the throne of the Eternal God must 
hover the spirit of such as he who lived with- 
out ever having a selfish thought. 

*^The steadfast friend, the gallant soldier, 
the great Commander has fallen asleep. 
**Eest thee, friend, soldier, patriot, 
Thy work is done.'' 




^ KD-9* 



r^ 




>p% 




BBSCROS. '^ ^^^ ^^ 

.UGUSTINE o ^^'^^^^ - ^ K 



o r 



m 

















